Former U.S. Sen. Doug Jones speaking at his gubernatorial campaign kickoff event on Dec. 12, 2025, in Birmingham, Alabama. Jones made campaign promises and attacked likely GOP opponent U.S. Sen. Tommy Tuberville during a 45-minute speech to more than 1,000 supporters. (Anna Barrett/Alabama Reflector)
BIRMINGHAM — Former U.S. Sen. Doug Jones kicked off his 2026 gubernatorial campaign Friday, mixing promises to protect health care and voting rights with attacks on likely GOP gubernatorial nominee Tommy Tuberville.
Speaking to more than 1,000 people on the eighth anniversary of his victory in the 2017 special U.S. Senate election, Jones, referencing a song by the country group The Highwomen, said he wanted to make Alabama a “crowded table” where everybody is welcome.
“It’s a powerful song about community, bringing people together despite their differences,” Jones said. “It is much like our victory in 2017, an anthem about finding strength in unity and ensuring that everyone has a place at the table and a sense of belonging. That, folks, is my vision for Alabama.”
Campaign promises
In a 45-minute speech, Jones pledged to invest in mental health to improve the state’s prison system; make it easier to vote and to protect in-vitro fertilization (IVF) and contraception.
“Make no mistake, folks, the people that work to try to control Montgomery every day, that’s what they’re coming for next,” Jones said. “It started with abortion, but they’re coming for IVF, and they’re coming for contraception.”
Jones’ reproductive health campaign promises stem from a greater promise to expand Medicaid, which he said is the backbone of the health care system.
Jones attacked Tuberville over his support of the One Big Beautiful Bill Act (OBBBA) and vote against extending tax credits for the Affordable Care Act, the loss of which could cause 130,000 Alabamians to lose health insurance. Jones also brought up questions of Tuberville’s residency in the state, which have dogged the senator for years.
“Tuberville with this Donald Trump first and Alabama afterthought mindset, his blind support of what I call the anything but beautiful bill. Tuberville has been slamming the door on Medicaid expansion,” Jones said. “He doesn’t care about the health of Alabama families. He just cares more about what’s going on on the beach down to Santa Rosa.”
A message seeking comment from Tuberville’s campaign was left Friday afternoon.
If elected, Jones said he would expand Medicaid with an executive order if the Legislature does not do so.
“We’re going to do everything in our power, everything to get health care to every Alabamian,” he said. “If that means expanding Medicaid with a stroke of the governor’s pen, I am damn sure going to do it.”
The governor can expand Medicaid by order, but the Legislature would have to approve funding for it.
Jones also invoked his work as U.S. attorney, where he secured convictions against Thomas Edwin Blanton Jr. in 2001 and Bobby Frank Cherry in 2002 for the murder of four little girls in the 16th Street Baptist Church bombing in 1963. Both men were sentenced to life in prison.
Jones criticized the state’s overcrowded prisons, saying some incarcerated people need mental health care instead.
“We talk a good game about mental health, but then we just warehouse folks in prison,” he said.
He also vowed to end straight ticket voting and to advocate for early voting. Democrats in the Legislature have tried for years to pass an early voting law, but are denied due to Republican critiques of voter fraud and operating costs.
“What do you think they’re scared of? Are they scared that the wrong people are going to vote?” Jones asked the crowd. “Probably so, because that’s why they would rather suppress those votes rather than compete for those votes.”
Jones critiqued the state’s straight ticket voting system. According to the National Conference of State Legislatures, the method allows voters to choose a party’s entire slate of candidates with a single ballot mark. Alabama is one of five states that uses the voting system.
“We have got to stop clinging to an antiquated, rigged system of outdated, straight ticket voting,” he said. “Straight ticket voting, which we know is nothing more than a rigged system to keep powerful people in power, even as they fail us every dang year.”
A lively crowd
Jones was preceded by DJ Slim Robb who energized the crowd with songs like “Bad to the Bone” by George Thorogood, “24K Magic” by Bruno Mars and “Sweet Home Alabama” by Lynyrd Skynyrd.
Singer-songwriter Jason Isbell, an Alabama native, played a three-song set before introducing Jones’ wife Louise as “the most important person” on the campaign.
“I think if everybody who was running for this office was a good, honest person, I think Doug would still be a great candidate,” Isbell said.
Louise teased her husband on their 33rd wedding anniversary and his listening skills that she said he only puts to use at work.
“Even when the issues are hard and the stakes are high, he’s always believed that our state is strongest when every community has a voice,” she said. “Leaders put people ahead of politics.”
Three young supporters also spoke, saying they felt hopeful with Jones’ candidacy. Robert Gaines, Jr., a freshman at the University of Alabama at Birmingham, said that even when he was a child when Jones won the Senate seat in 2017, he could tell something important was happening.
“It means hope for greater transparency so the public is not left in the dark. It means hope for a real seat at the table for people like me. It means hope for me and my peers, who are often spoken about but not represented,” Gaines said of why he supports Jones.
Gaines’ mother, Marilyn Yelder, said in an interview after the event that Jones’ platform applies to her family. She said Gaines has Type 1 Diabetes and will soon lose their current health care coverage.
“When it comes to Medicaid expansion, he will eventually age out of some of these benefits, which could leave us uninsured within the next year,” Yelder said. “This time next year, if something does not change, my son may not even be able to afford necessary medications that are needed to keep him alive.”
Caleb Rotton, a 37-year-old Homewood resident and longtime Jones supporter, said he was proud of Alabama representation for the first time when Jones was in the Senate and feels inspired again.
“I was just proud, for once, for one of our politicians to serve the people instead of themselves,” Rotten said in an interview.
An uphill battle
Democrats face a tough battle for statewide office in Alabama. Jones, who was the first Democrat to win election to the U.S. Senate in 25 years, is the only Democrat to win a statewide vote for a political office since 2008, when former Public Service Commission President Lucy Baxley narrowly won election to the PSC. The last Democrat to win the governor’s mansion was Don Siegelman in 1998. Siegelman served a single term.
Tuberville defeated Jones for U.S. Senate in 2020 despite Jones outspending Tuberville 3-to-1.
Rotton acknowledged the uphill battle for any Democrat in Alabama, but believes that Jones can appeal to voters who may not be enthusiastic about voting for Tuberville.
“I think Doug can appeal to that voter, which is, in my mind, the only way that I think a Democrat could probably win in the state,” Rotton said.
Rep. Philip Ensler, D-Montgomery, attended the event and said in an interview he felt the excitement in the room and for himself.
“Look, people are energized. As he said, it’s bigger than Democrat or Republican,” Ensler said. “Whatever people’s political background, I think they really are feeling frustrated with the status quo. They want something that’s going to be forward thinking. And I’m excited.”
Senate Minority Leader Bobby Singleton, D-Montgomery, also attended the event.
“Doug and I go way back. We’ve known each other for a long time. I support Doug,” Singleton said in an interview.
Primary landscape
Jones joins Will Boyd and Chad “Chig” Martin in the Democratic primary, which is on May 19. Throughout the event, Jones focused more on the general election in November. However, Jones said in an interview after the event that he is going to run an aggressive campaign in the primary and the general.
“I want people to compare my record of service to the people of Alabama, to all sections of the people of Alabama, versus the service that may or may not exist with my opponents,” Jones said.
Martin is a first time candidate and Boyd has run for several state offices but has not won. In an interview Friday afternoon, Martin said having Jones in the race is good for voters.
“The more competition the better. I think that’s better for the citizens in Alabama,” Martin said.
A message seeking comment from Boyd was left Friday afternoon.
“On that election day in 2017 we gave the people, not just in Alabama, but across this country, something even more significant. We gave them hope for a stronger democracy,” Jones said. “And today, eight years later, we’re rekindling that hope, that optimism, that enthusiasm. Let’s face it, there is a greater urgency for hope today than there was in 2017.”
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Author: Anna Barrett