Sen. Tommy Tuberville wins Republican primary for governor of Alabama
Sen. Tommy Tuberville won the Republican primary for governor of Alabama on Tuesday, NBC News projects, making him the clear favorite to win this fall’s general election in the ruby red state.
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This fall’s winner will replace incumbent Republican Gov. Kay Ivey, who is term-limited and cannot run for reelection.
Alabama hasn’t elected a Democrat as governor since 1998, and President Donald Trump, who supported Tuberville, carried the state by 30 points in 2024. Tuberville, a former college football coach, is set to leave the Senate after completing a term he was first elected to in 2020.
Trump’s endorsement came after Tuberville established a voting record closely aligned with the president’s preferences.
“I was proud to support ‘Coach’ when he ran for Senate in 2020, and I’m honored to do so again. Tommy Tuberville has my complete and utter support to be the next governor of the great state of Alabama,” Trump said Monday on social media.
Tuberville benefited from Trump’s support in 2020 during a Republican Senate primary that included former Sen. Jeff Sessions, Trump’s first attorney general. Sessions infuriated the president by appointing a special adviser to investigate alleged ties between Trump’s 2016 campaign and Russia, and Trump fired him from the Cabinet in 2018 and repeatedly spoke out against him in the years that followed.
Now Tuberville’s quest to move from Washington to Montgomery has sparked a rush among Republicans to replace him in the red seat.
Trump endorsed Rep. Barry Moore, R-Ala., who has served in the House since 2021, in this race.
Meanwhile, Tuberville is on a collision course with the Democrat he defeated in the 2020 Senate race. Former Sen. Doug Jones, who won a 2017 special election with a stunning showing before losing his seat in 2020, has won the Democratic primary for governor, according to NBC News projects.
