Tuberville challenger vows to take senator's Alabama residency case to court after state GOP ruling

Alabama Republican Sen. Tommy Tuberville gubernatorial challenger Ken McFeeters vowed Tuesday to take his case that challenges Tuberville's residency to court after the Alabama Republican Party dismissed the challenge over the weekend.

McFeeters, who is running against Tuberville for the GOP nomination for Alabama governor, filed the challenge last week, accusing the senator of actually residing in Florida instead of Alabama.

Tuberville's property tax records show the senator has a home in Auburn, Alabama, on which he claims a homestead exemption, according to the Associated Press. He also has a beach home in Walton County, Florida. 

McFeeters slammed the Alabama GOP in a Facebook post for dismissing the challenge, stating that he was "disappointed" in the ruling, which decided not to take up the case at all.

"That decision places the Alabama Republican Party in a deeply troubling position," the challenger wrote. "The practical effect of this ruling is that if a candidate is wealthy enough to purchase a small property and declare it a 'domicile of convenience,' the residency requirements of the Alabama Constitution can simply be ignored."

McFeeters said he will take the case to court, where he will demand the senator provide proof that he has primarily resided in Alabama for the past seven years, as required by state law. 

"I am pursuing a legal challenge so the courts can compel the production of objective evidence—travel records, CC statements showing location of spending habits, financial records, tax filings, utilities, and other documentation—to determine whether Senator Tuberville has in fact been domiciled in Alabama for the required seven consecutive years," he said. 

The senator, who previously coached football at Auburn University, announced his candidacy for state governor last year and has been endorsed by President Donald Trump. 

Tuberville's campaign praised the state GOP's decision not to hear the case on Monday, highlighting the senator's 10-year coaching career in Alabama and his tenure of representing the state in the upper chamber.

"Finally, common sense has prevailed and this made-up 'residency' hoax will be put to bed for good," Tuberville's campaign chairman Jordan Doufexis said in a statement. "The facts are the facts: Coach Tuberville spent a decade in Alabama coaching football and raising his family. 

"After his sports career ended, he moved back home to Alabama and has held a driver's license, voted, and lived in Auburn, Alabama, since 2019," he continued. "Senator Tuberville looks forward to securing the nomination ... and being sworn in as Alabama's next governor."  

Misty Severi is a news reporter for Just The News. You can follow her on X for more coverage.