Alabama could soon get a new head coach — at the political level.
Sen. Tommy Tuberville (R-Ala.) officially threw his hat in the ring for the 2026 Alabama governor’s race, confirming months of speculation that he had his sights set on the office.
“A few years ago, I decided to give back to this great country and fight. President Trump was really behind me in doing the Senate race, he’s been behind me ever since, and today I will announce I will be the future governor of the great state of Alabama,” Tuberville announced on Fox News’ “The Will Cain Show.”
“I’m a football coach, I’m a leader, I’m a builder, I’m a recruiter, and we’re going to grow Alabama. We’re going to bring manufacturing to this state. We’re going to stop this illegal immigration,” he added. “We’re going to make education better again.”
Incumbent Alabama Gov. Kay Ivey (R) is term-limited and, therefore, ineligible to seek reelection in 2026.
The one-term senator’s announcement came at Byron’s Smokehouse in Auburn, Alabama, where he also launched his Senate campaign.
Tuberville had first been elected to the Senate in 2020 after he narrowly edged out former US Attorney General Jeff Sessions in a primary in the aftermath of his falling out with President Trump.
The 70-year-old is famous for his time as head football coach at Auburn University from 1999 to 2008. Tuberville also did stints as the head football coach at the University of Mississippi between 1995 and 1998, Texas Tech University between 2010 and 2012 and the University of Cincinnati between 2013 and 2016.
Given his time spent out of state, there is controversy over Alabama’s seven-year residency requirement for governor. Tuberville is adamant that he has complied with that requirement.
Even if he wins the governor’s race, Tuberville prefers to be called “coach” rather than senator or governor.
Other top potential Republican gubernatorial aspirants have since opted against running amid speculation about Tuberville’s intentions, including Alabama Lt. Gov. Will Ainsworth and Agriculture Commissioner Rick Pate.
During his time in the Senate, Tuberville made a name for himself as a staunch acolyte of Trump. In 2023, he mounted a roughly 10-month blockade on former President Joe Biden’s military nominees in protest of a Pentagon policy of footing the travel bill for service members to obtain an abortion.
Ahead of his announcement on Fox News, Tuberville launched a campaign website unveiling his gubernatorial bid.
“Like President Trump, I’ll continue to protect common sense and stand up for our shared conservative values in Montgomery,” his campaign website said.
Tuberville is now the second sitting US senator, alongside Sen. Michael Bennett (D-Col.), to run for governor. Unlike Bennett, Tuberville was actually up for reelection in 2028.
The Alabaman joins five other sitting senators in passing on a reelection bid in the 2026 cycle: Sens. Jeanne Shaheen of New Hampshire, Gary Peters of Michigan, Tina Smith of Minnesota, Dick Durbin of Illinois and Mitch McConnell of Kentucky retiring rather than face potentially tough re-election battles.
Republicans currently hold a 53–47 seat majority in the Senate and must defend 22 of the 35 seats facing elections next year.
However, Tuberville stressed that he still has 18 months left “to go with President Trump to make America great again” and plans to remain active in his Senate duties.
At the top of the agenda for Senate Republicans this week is work on Trump’s marquee One Big Beautiful Bill Act, which cleared the House but has faced skepticism from several senators.
“It will be a fist fight next week, starting Monday, with all Republicans looking at this bill, combining it with the House,” Tuberville added, referring to the Senate reconvening next week from recess.
“But we’ve got to get it done.”
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