Republican voters on Tuesday will choose between (left to right) U.S. Sen. Tommy Tuberville, Will Santivasci and Ken McFeeters for the GOP nomination for governor. (Tuberville photo by Alander Rocha/Alabama Reflector; Santivasci photo courtesy of candidate; McFeeters photo by Ralph Chapoco/Alabama Reflector; graphic by Anna Barrett/Alabama Reflector)
Alabama Republican voters on Tuesday will choose between three candidates for the party’s nomination for governor.
Ken McFeeters, an insurance agency owner; Will Santivasci, a small business owner; and U.S. Sen. Tommy Tuberville are seeking the GOP nomination.
McFeeters and Santivasci are first-time candidates for statewide office. Tuberville is a first-term senator and the front-runner among party leaders.
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A spokesperson for Tuberville said he was not available for an interview.
McFeeters challenged Tuberville’s candidacy with the Alabama Republican Party (ALGOP) over the senator’s residency in March. McFeeters alleged that Tuberville lives in Santa Rosa Beach, Florida, not Auburn where Tuberville claims. Alabama law requires the governor to have domicile in the state for seven years.
Tuberville has refused to plainly answer where he has lived for the last seven years. The party dismissed the challenge, and McFeeters filed a lawsuit. A motion to dismiss the lawsuit from the party’s lawyers from last week is pending.
The candidates
McFeeters, 66, said in a phone interview Friday that he is running for governor to make change at a lower level. He ran for Alabama’s 6th Congressional District in 2024, and said he learned he would make more of an impact in a state office.
“If you want to make change, you do it locally, and that’s when I decided I want my freedoms back,” McFeeters said. “Alabama’s got to take care of Alabama. We need to take care of each other.”
If elected, he said he would work to make Alabama “food independent,” and rethink the education and healthcare systems. He said communities and parents should be in charge of education, and healthcare should be about healing and not making money.
“We have to get health and medicine back to healing, get it out of the businessmen’s hands, because it’s about medicine,” he said. “It’s not about medicine or healing anymore, it’s about making profits on you.”
Santivasci, 45, said he entered the race because he did not think there was a candidate for voters to vote for that could relate to them.
“I feel everyday struggles and challenges of day-to-day life of Alabamians, whether it’s paying high taxes or food cost,” he said. “I just feel like I’m in touch with everyday Alabamians, and the choices I saw, I feel like they were a little bit out of touch with everyday people.”
If elected, Santivasci wants to reevaluate the state’s current programs, cut taxes on gasoline and food, and recruit jobs to the state.
“If I am elected, first thing would be balancing the books, because you’ve got to do that, so you know how much money you actually do have, or what’s wasteful,” he said.
Tuberville, 71, will focus on workforce development, immigration enforcement and “Alabama values,” which include fighting against what he calls “woke ideologies,” according to his website.
“Like President Trump, I’ll continue to protect common sense and stand up for our shared conservative values in Montgomery,” his website states.
Secretary of Energy
Under legislation passed and signed into law this spring, the governor will have a new cabinet member: the Secretary of Energy. The position was part of legislation that expanded the Public Service Commission (PSC), which regulates the state’s utilities. The legislation does not list any requirements for the secretary, so the governor will have free reign on their appointment.
McFeeters said he would appoint somebody that is against building data centers in Alabama.
“It’s absolutely idiotic that we’re heading in this direction, and we need to do a 180 and we have to do that on a local level, state level,” McFeeters said.
Santivasci said he would appoint somebody that has the citizens’ interest at the center of their service.
“Somebody who is in tune with, again, the everyday struggles of Alabama, and able to see ways to protect the people of Alabama and their interests and finding the best solutions to reduce the cost for the state,” Santivasci said.
Tuberville’s website does not mention the Public Service Commission or the Secretary of Energy.
Campaign fundraising
As of Friday, Tuberville is far ahead in campaign contributions. Tuberville reported $12.8 million in cash donations and $3.6 million in expenditures. He has also reported $160,000 in in-kind contributions. Less than 1% of all contributions have come from political action committees (PACs), 44% have come from businesses, and 55% have come from individuals, as reported.
McFeeters reported $353 in cash donations, $20,000 of his own money, and $13,000 in expenditures. He said that he refused any donations because any donors would want a “return on investment.”
“When my opponent announced that he was going to be the governor, I think 10 guys lined up and gave him $100,000 checks. Well, they’re gonna want to return on investment,” he said. “I don’t want to owe anybody. I hate that about politics.”
Santivasci has not reported any fundraising or expenditures as of Friday. Santivasci said he has not figured out how to file reports, but that he uses personal funds and mostly free resources.
“It’s my first time running for it. I’ve been in it about 90 days, whereas other people have had months or a year to plan their campaign,” he said.
How to vote
Republican voters across Alabama can choose between McFeeters, Santivasci or Tuberville for the Republican nomination for governor on May 19. Polls are open from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. Polling locations can be found here. If no candidate receives 50% of votes, a primary runoff election will be held on June 16. The winner will face the Democratic nominee in the general election on Nov. 3.
Ken McFeeters
Age: 66
Residence: Pelham
Occupation: Insurance agency owner
Education: high school diploma
Political Experience: Republican candidate for Alabama 6th Congressional District, 2024
Will Santivasci
Age: 45
Residence: Oxford
Occupation: business owner
Education: high school diploma
Political Experience: first-time candidate
Tommy Tuberville
Age: 71
Residence: Disputed
Occupation: Retired college football coach 1995-2016, Auburn Head Football Coach 1999-2008
Education: B.S., physical education, Southern State College, 1976
Political Experience: U.S. Senator, 2021-present
From Alabama Reflector Post Url: Visit
Author: Anna Barrett