The Alabama Republican Party has said that U.S. Sen. Tommy Tuberville will remain the party’s gubernatorial nominee.
The Republican Party rejected a claim on Sunday that he had not lived in the state long enough to run for governor.
The unanimous decision came after the party’s 21-member steering committee heard a challenge filed by Tuberville’s former primary opponent, Republican candidate Ken McFeeters, who claimed that Tuberville did not meet the Alabama Constitution’s seven-year residency requirement.
“We looked at it with the facts. The contest was unsuccessful. And Coach Tuberville will be our nominee for governor,” said Scott Stadthagen, the state Republican Party chair.
Tuberville is often referred to as “Coach” because he coached the college football team at Auburn University, one of Alabama’s two major universities, where the sport is very popular.
Tuberville, who defeated McFeeters in last month’s primary and has been endorsed by President Donald Trump, called the accusation a “witch-hunt” by the media.
“I’m thankful for the committee holding a hearing today to finally put this ridiculous residency hoax to bed,” Tuberville said.
“For the past six years, I’ve proudly represented Alabama in the United States Senate. When I’m not in D.C., Suzanne and I are at home in Auburn and yes, sometimes, at our beach house on the coast.”
In a seven-page document explaining their decision, party officials cited Tuberville’s evidence, including his voting history in Alabama.
The officials said courts have recognized voter registration as an important consideration in determining domicile.
He announced in 2025 that he would run for governor of Alabama.
A campaign website was established in his name on May 25 that year. Tuberville formally announced his candidacy on “The Will Cain Show” later that day.
“I will be the future governor of the great state of Alabama,” Tuberville said at the time. “I’m a football coach, I’m a leader, I’m a builder, I’m a recruiter, and we’re going to grow Alabama.”
Tuberville didn’t resign from the Senate in order to run for the election. Despite the commute required between Washington and Alabama, he said that he would campaign on weekends for the Republican Party’s nomination in the election.
Alabama has one of the most conservative statewide electorates in the United States, and no Democrat currently holds statewide office.
Tuberville’s campaign platform, as published on his website, is described as “Alabama First” and articulates a standard conservative agenda on issues such as transgenderism, taxes, tariffs, border security, school choice, and the Second Amendment. Additionally, he has emphasized the need to retain college graduates in the state’s workforce.
Tuberville announced his legislation, the Student Visa Integrity Act (S. 2555), in a statement on July 31, 2025. He said he was “recently shocked” to learn how many students from hostile countries were studying at U.S. universities, including institutions in Alabama.
“We need to go on offense against countries who hate us and are desperate to try to take us down—as we saw with the violent, anti-American protests on our college campuses over the past few months,” Tuberville said in the statement.
“There is zero reason why we should be allowing students from countries that hate us to take the spot of a law-abiding American citizen at our elite colleges and universities.”
Citing data from Homeland Security Investigations, Tuberville’s office pointed out that there were 1.5 million students on F-1 or M-1 visas in the United States in 2023. According to the data, China accounted for 330,365 of those students, making it the second-largest international source, behind India.
If enacted, the legislation would bar citizens from adversarial countries from obtaining visas to study in the United States. The bill lists Cuba, Iran, North Korea, Russia, Venezuela, and China, along with Hong Kong and Macao, as foreign adversaries.
The Student Visa Integrity Act of 2026 was introduced in January and referred to House committees, but it has not passed.
