The U.S. Capitol in Washington, D.C., on Oct. 1, 2025. Alabama voters on Tuesday will choose party nominees for the U.S. Senate, a seat left vacant by Sen. Tommy Tuberville, who is running for governor. (Photo by Jennifer Shutt/States Newsroom)
Both Democratic and Republican voters Tuesday will choose nominees in the contest to succeed U.S. Sen. Tommy Tuberville, who is running for governor.
Aside from former U.S. Sen. Doug Jones’ tenure from 2017 to 2021, the seat has been held by Republicans for the past 30 years.
Republican runoff
Republican voters will choose between U.S. Rep. Barry Moore of Enterprise and former Navy SEAL Jared Hudson. Moore led the six-candidate field on May 19 with 188,825 votes, about 38.2% of the total. Hudson got 123,533 votes, about 25.6% of the total.
Hudson said in a phone interview Tuesday that the SAVE America Act, a bill that would require Americans to show documents like a birth certificate or passport to register to vote, will be his top priority if it has not already passed.
“Hopefully it’s already passed, because we need it for the general election. Alabama already requires IDs, proof of citizenship. It’s not a difficult thing,” Hudson said. “We need to make sure other states meet the same standard that we’re holding to, and in other states around the nation, they’re holding to.”
Alabama law requires applicants to be U.S. citizens, but Alabamians can present their driver’s license as “satisfactory proof” of citizenship, according to the law. The SAVE Act would require a driver’s license in addition to a passport or birth certificate, with the names matching, which many married women have expressed concern about.
He also said he would support legislation to impose congressional term limits. President Pro Tempore Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, is the currently-longest serving member of the Senate. He was first elected in 1981, and his eighth term ends in 2030. Hudson criticized U.S. Rep. Maxine Waters, D-California, who was first elected in 1991 and is running for re-election.
“Making sure that we push for term limits so we have new ideas, fresh ideas, and people are not staying up there getting rolled around in wheelchairs, making decisions that run this country into the ground or elevate this country out of the mire,” he said.
Hudson also said he wants to ban congressional stock trading, saying there should be more transparency among lawmakers.
He said voters should choose him because Moore has been in office since 2010, when he started in the Alabama House of Representatives, and “it hasn’t gotten better.”
“The definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results. We cannot have these career politicians that continue to elevate themselves,” Hudson said. “Then the other thing is, if he built so much trust with CD-01, why leave his spot, especially when we’re such a slim majority in the House Republican side?”
Moore was unavailable for an interview in time for publication. During a candidate forum hosted by the Shelby County Republican Party on May 26, Moore touted his endorsement from President Donald Trump.
He also said at the forum that he would support legislation to ban congressional stock trading and that he does not trade stocks himself.
“As a member of the House Freedom Caucus, we’ve been pretty conservative, we’ve been the fighters. There’s only 40 of us out of 435 members, and so we’re inside the fight, but I can tell you this: we’re not part of the system,” Moore said at the forum.
According to Quiver Quantitive, a comprehensive dashboard of stock data, Moore bought between $1,001 and $15,000 in Bitcoin in 2024, and 2,500 shares of Prattville-based River Bank and Trust stock in 2023, worth between $50,001 and $100,000. In 2021, he made four purchases of cryptocurrency between $1,001 and $15,000 each, and made one sale between $1,001 and $15,000.
During the forum, Moore also said that inflation is one of the biggest threats to Alabama families coming from Washington. Moore said he wants to reduce the federal debt, which is currently more than $39 trillion.
“There’s a cost of what we do, and the number one body in the nation that creates inflation is Washington, D.C.,” he said. “As we put downward pressure, that makes it affordable for us citizens and people of Alabama.”
He said that his relationship with the president will help him as a senator advocate for more economic development for the state.
“We want our kids and grandkids to come back here and live close to home and raise those children, so we can have an impact on their lives by creating an economy, opening up Alabama’s economy,” he said. “Having the relationship with the White House to say, ‘Sir, Alabama will not let you down. We will do what we need to do to support the economy, and bring jobs to Alabama.’”
On Tuesday, a campaign ad sponsored by Alabama Conservatives, a Georgia-based SuperPAC, attacked Moore’s military record and urged voters to choose Hudson who was a Navy SEAL sniper from 2006 to 2013. The ad quotes Gateway Pundit, a far-right website that has been known for publishing falsehoods and conspiracy theories.
According to reporting by Alabama Daily News, Moore served in the Alabama Army National Guard 1988 to 1991, and in the U.S. Army Reserves as a member of the Individual Ready Reserve from 1991 to 1997. He was not deployed to combat during his service.
The ad claims that Moore “misrepresented his military record for years,” and used a 2020 quote of Moore where he said, “I’ve been in those combat boots. I understand what it’s like.”
According to Alabama Daily News, Moore’s campaign said he wore combat boots during training. In a video posted to social media about an hour after the ad was published, Moore said he was honorably discharged as an E-6, which is the pay grade of a staff sergeant, from the National Guard. The Moore campaign told Alabama Daily News he was discharged as an officer candidate.
“People can attack me, I’m used to it,” he said. “But what I will not accept is attacking the 30,000 men and women of the Alabama National Guard and Reserves as ‘not veterans.’ That’s a garbage swamp tactic.”
Moore’s campaign threatened legal action against Alabama Political Reporter when the outlet contacted them with questions about the allegations. Moore has also filed a federal complaint against several social media posts that criticized him and amplified Hudson.
Hudson said in a phone interview about an hour after Moore’s response was posted, Hudson said he wanted Moore to “validate his resume.”
“I have to present that to the voters,” he said. “Congressman Moore has to do the same thing on his end, but when the voters ask, validate your resume for us. I validated my resume for him, he sent cease-and-desist, and lawsuit letters out to news agencies.”
Both men have posted many endorsements from veterans, including one Moore endorsement from Seth Burton, a candidate for the office that received 3.1% of the votes in the May 19 primary. Hudson was joined by over a dozen veterans for a livestream on Thursday.
Democratic runoff
Democratic voters will choose between attorney Everett Wess and small business owner Dakarai Larriett. Wess led a four-candidate primary with 134,608 votes, about 39.6% of the total. Larriett got 99,033 votes, about 29.1% of the total, in the primary, according to unofficial returns.
Larriett, a business owner from Birmingham, said in a recent phone interview that his campaign stemmed from an encounter with police officers in Michigan two years ago. Larriett alleged in a lawsuit filed in 2024 that two Michigan State Police Troopers arrested him for intoxication despite passing two field sobriety tests. He also alleged the officers attempted to plant drugs on him. Michigan State Police told CBS News in 2024 that they were conducting an internal investigation but denied Larriett’s claim of drugs being planted.
The 2024 lawsuit was dismissed by a court. Larriett filed an additional lawsuit last April that was closed in February after the court affirmed the dismissal.
He said in an interview that the criminal justice system is broken, and his campaign is about fixing broken systems.
“This campaign is about listening, so I’ve been listening and traveling the state. What I learned is that there are many broken systems,” he said “I built my policy proposal around fixing the systems that have plagued the state: education, health care, and our economy, which feed a broken criminal justice system.”
If elected, Larriett said he would work to repeal the One Big Beautiful Bill Act — a 2025 act that cut budgets for many federal agencies and created new tax policies — which he said he protested last summer, and demand a vote on the Affordable Care Act subsidies.
“That was the whole reason the government shut down for about two months last fall, winter, and we still have not taken the vote,” he said. “Folks are going without health insurance, or they’re spending thousands of dollars a month in premiums, which is impacting affordability.”
Wess said in a phone interview Tuesday that he’s running to make a change in the country because he didn’t like what he was seeing in the government.
“I hope that I could bring civility back to Washington by being a senator, and then do some good things for the people of Alabama,” he said.
Wess’s priorities revolve around building a safer community for everybody. That includes raising the federal minimum wage, which has been $7.25 per hour since 2009, according to the U.S. Department of Labor.
“I want to stabilize the job market, look at things such as increasing minimum wage, no tax on tips for servers,” he said
He also wants to codify a way to prevent racial and partisan gerrymandering. In a U.S. Supreme Court decision known as Louisiana v. Callais, the court ruled that racial discrimination with intent does violate Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act, but redistricting in the name of party does not. Texas, California, South Carolina, Tennessee, Florida and Virginia have either redistricted to give either party more guaranteed congressional seats in the 2026 midterm elections, or are in the process of doing so.
“We want to make sure that the voices of our citizens are heard through their vote. We have gerrymandering going on right now,” he said. “I think we need to come back and revisit and look at passing laws and creating laws that will allow us to make sure that every Alabama has a voice with their vote.”
Larriett accused Wess in an interview and in an ad of being a “former Republican and a Republican operative” for saying he would have voted for the SAVE America Act.
“His take-home policies are very questionable. He’s been caught on stage talking about supporting the Save Act, a voter suppression law. He’s been caught on stage on camera talking about being pro-life in a time when reproductive health is under constant assault,” Larriett said.
Wess said Tuesday that ads do not define him and he is a Democrat. He did not clarify his position on the SAVE America Act.
“If the ads are from my opponent or his supporters, they don’t define who I am. I define who I am,” he said.
Wess was the Republican nominee for a House District 19 special election in 1993, which Rep. Laura Hall, D-Huntsville, later won. He said in a statement Friday afternoon that “it is no secret” that he ran as a Republican three decades ago, but his dedication to the Democratic party has been consistent since then.
“My record is clear. My values are clear. My commitment to the Democratic Party and to the people of Alabama is clear,” Wess wrote. “I am proud of that record, and I will continue fighting for Alabama families, voting rights, reproductive freedom, economic opportunity, and equal justice as the Democratic nominee for the United States Senate.”
Campaign fundraising
Through May 27, the most recent reporting available, Hudson had raised almost $1.8 million and spent almost $1.2 million, leaving him with about $580,000 on hand.
Moore has raised nearly $3 million and spent about $2.6 million, leaving him with about $490,000 on hand.
Larriett has raised about $146,000 and spent more than $136,000, leaving him with about $10,000 on hand.
Wess has raised about $74,000 and spent about $75,000, leaving him with about -$1,400.
Candidates must file campaign fundraising updates every 48 hours, according to the Federal Election Commission’s calendar for Alabama, but the data is not updated for the public.
How to vote
Republican voters can choose between Hudson and Moore for the Republican nomination, and Democratic voters can choose between Larriett and Wess for the Democratic nomination for U.S. Senate on June 16. Polls are open from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. Polling locations can be found here. The winners will face each other in November in the general election.
Meet the Candidates
Dakarai Larriett
Age: 44
Residence: Birmingham
Occupation: Small business owner – pet supplies
Party: Democratic
Education: B.S. Management, University of Alabama 2004; MBA, New York University, 2009
Offices sought/held: first-time candidate
Everett Wess
Age: 64
Residence: Birmingham
Occupation: Attorney
Party: Democratic
Education: Associates Degree in Music Education from Selma Junior University, 1981; B.S. Computer Science, Alabama A&M University, 1985; MBA, Alabama A&M University, 1995; J.D., Birmingham School of Law, 2000
Offices sought/held: Republican candidate, Alabama House of Representatives, 1993; Democratic primary candidate for Jefferson County Probate in 2018 and 2024; Democratic primary candidate for Alabama 10th Judicial Circuit Place 3 in 2020
Jared Hudson
Age: 40
Residence: Gardendale
Occupation: CEO of Covenant Rescue Group, SWAT Deputy and investigator at Blount County Sheriff’s Office; Navy SEAL veteran
Party: Republican
Education: B.S. Business, University of Phoenix, 2016; MBA, Liberty University, 2021
Offices sought/held: Republican nominee for Jefferson County Sheriff, 2022
Barry Moore
Age: 59
Residence: Enterprise
Occupation: Owner, waste and hauling company
Education: B.S. Agricultural Science, Auburn University, 1992
Party: Republican
Offices held/offices sought: Alabama House of Representatives, 2010-18; U.S. House of Representatives, 2021-present
From Alabama Reflector Post Url: Visit
Author: Anna Barrett