U.S. Sen. Tommy Tuberville gives an acceptance speech after he wins the Republican nomination for Alabama's governor at his primary election victory tailgate at the Vulcan Park in Birmingham, Alabama, on May 19, 2026. The Alabama Republican Party Sunday rejected a challenge to Tuberville's residency in the state. (Anna Barrett/Alabama Reflector)
The Alabama Republican Party Sunday rejected a challenge to U.S. Sen. Tommy Tuberville’s residency from his former primary opponent Ken McFeeters, keeping him the GOP gubernatorial nominee.
Scott Stadthagen, chair of the Alabama Republican Party (ALGOP), announced the ruling of the the 21-member steering committee on Sunday afternoon. Stadthagen, a member of the committee, did not vote because there was not a tie.
“We looked at it with the facts. The contest was unsuccessful and Coach Tuberville will be our nominee for governor,” Stadthagen said. “I want to make it crystal clear: Under my leadership as chairman of the Republican Party, we will stand on integrity, on strong morals, on truth, and most importantly, we will always do what’s right.”
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Stadthagen did not take questions from reporters. A message was left Sunday afternoon for McFeeters.
In a statement Sunday afternoon, Tuberville said he is proud to have served the state for the last six years and glad to “put the ridiculous residency hoax to bed.”
“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. This entire witch-hunt could have been avoided if the media and Democrats had just asked a few of our neighbors about this, but they don’t care about the truth,” he said.
McFeeters has filed three separate challenges and a lawsuit over the senator’s residency.
Republican gubernatorial candidate files lawsuit against U.S. Sen. Tommy Tuberville
Tuberville has long faced questions about his Alabama residency. Tuberville moved to Alabama in 1999 when he started coaching football for Auburn University. He told Alabama Daily News last summer that time contributed to his residency qualification, and has said a homestead exemption claimed on property in Auburn by his wife and son in 2018 is proof of residence.
AL.com reported in May of last year that Tuberville and his wife voted in Florida in 2018, after the homestead exemption was claimed. Lagniappe, a Baldwin County newspaper, recently reported that Tuberville had an active Florida drivers license until 2023 and the state denied a public records request for any tax documents that would indirectly confirm Tuberville’s residency.
McFeeters has said he provided expense reports which show Tuberville’s trips from D.C. to “home,” which were often to the Destin-Fort Walton Beach Airport, not Auburn or the surrounding area, where Tuberville claims to live.
The Alabama Constitution requires candidates for governor and lieutenant governor to be residents of the state for at least seven years.
“The governor and lieutenant governor shall each be at least thirty years of age when elected, and shall have been citizens of the United States ten years and resident citizens of this state at least seven years next before the date of their election,” the Constitution reads.
According to the steering committee’s final decision, a candidate’s voter registration, physical habitation, where the candidate’s family lives and community involvement determine their domicile. The decision said that McFeeters’ evidence did not prove that Tuberville does not have domicile in Alabama.
The decision says that McFeeters complained that there was not enough time to present sufficient evidence against Tuberville.
“If that is the case, then he has no one to blame but himself,” the decision states.
Tuberville’s legal team, according to the decision, presented voting records, tax returns and a 2019 Alabama driver’s license as evidence of his residence in the state. The decision said that was sufficient evidence.
“McFeeters commenced this contest but failed to carry his burden of proving that Tuberville does not meet the legal requirements to be governor of Alabama. That would be sufficient by itself to warrant dismissal of this contest,” the decision states. “But Tuberville also proved the inverse: He does meet the legal requirements to be governor of Alabama.”
Tuberville won 421,754 votes, about 85.5% of the total, in the May 19 primary. McFeeters got 47,166 votes, about 9.6% of the total.
A successful challenge would have removed Tuberville from the November ballot. The party previously dismissed a challenge from in February, which would have removed Tuberville from the May 19 ballot.
McFeeters also sued Tuberville in Covington County, which he said Monday was “the closest I could get to Destin, Florida.” The lawsuit was dismissed on May 18 due to a lack of jurisdiction.
This story was updated at 6:10 p.m. to include a statement from Tuberville.
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Author: Anna Barrett