The Republican is known as a former coach of the college football team at Auburn University, one of Alabama’s two major universities.
Washington – Sen. Tommy Tuberville (R-Ala.) will not seek re-election in 2026, and will instead run for the governor of Alabama.
Tuberville was elected to the US Senate in 2020, serving his first term in the body. He is the coach of the college football team at Auburn University, one of Alabama’s two major universities, and is best known for the sport’s extremely popular state.
“I will be the future governor of Alabama’s great state,” Tuberville said. “I’m a soccer coach, I’m a leader, I’m a builder, I’m a recruiter, we’re going to raise Alabama,” he said.
Tuberville will not step down from the Senate to run for election. Despite the necessary commute between Washington and Alabama, he said he will campaign over the weekend for Republican nominations.
“I run every weekend and do what’s necessary to allow me to overcome the threshold and win this governor’s race, go back to Alabama and work with President (Donald) Trump… because he’s totally supportive of this,” Tuberville said.
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Trump has not issued a public statement about the effect.
Tuberville’s decision not to seek a second term in the Senate creates an “open primary” contest for Republican nominations in that election. Alabama has one of the most conservative statewide voters in the United States, and no Democrats currently have a statewide office. The “R+15” cook-partisan voting index score means that the winner of the Republican nomination could win the general election.
“We’re going to do everything possible to make sure that when our kids graduate from this great state, Yellowhammer, they stay and work in this state,” Tuberville said.
