Alabama GOP Dismisses Tuberville Residency Challenge Brought by Insurance Agent

The Alabama Republican Party said U.S. Sen. Tommy Tuberville will remain the party’s gubernatorial nominee, rejecting a claim on Sunday that he had not lived in the state long enough to run for governor.

The unanimous decision came after the party’s 21-member steering committee heard a challenge filed by Tuberville’s former primary opponent, Ken McFeeters, a longtime insurance agency owner in north Alabama. The challenge argued that Tuberville did not meet the Alabama Constitution’s seven-year residency requirement.

“We looked at it with the facts. The contest was unsuccessful. And Coach Tuberville will be our nominee for governor,” said Scott Stadthagen, the state Republican Party chair. Tuberville is often referred to as “Coach” because of his background coaching college football.

Stadthagen did not take questions from the news media. The hearing was not open to the public.

Tuberville has long faced accusations of living in Florida rather than the state he represents in Washington. He has faced the same claim as he runs for governor.

The Tuberville exoneration came two weeks after a masked man broke into Ken McFeeter’s insurance agency in Bessemer and ransacked the place.

Local news sites reported that surveillance cameras showed that the intruder cut a hole through a wall near the rear door of McFeeter’s PAC Insurance Agency office, damaged telephone and internet connections, and ripped through filing cabinets, but apparently did not take anything. McFeeters said he has operated the agency at that location for 35 years.

When asked if he thought the break-in was politically motivated, McFeeters said he wouldn’t speculate but that he did not think Tuberville was behind it, TV news stations reported.

“It wasn’t a typical normal breaking-and-entering thing at night. This is something really odd,” McFeeters told WBRC TV.

McFeeters has been active for years in lobbying Alabama lawmakers on insurance issues, including an end to generous tax breaks for Alfa and State Farm insurance companies. He is appointed with multiple property-casualty carriers, records show.

— Insurance Journal

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McFeeters did not immediately return a text message seeking comment.

“Does he live in Alabama? No,” McFeeters said before the hearing. “He doesn’t live here.”

Tuberville, who easily defeated McFeeters in last month’s primary and has been endorsed by President Donald Trump, called the accusation a “witch-hunt” by the media.

“I’m thankful for the committee holding a hearing today to finally put this ridiculous residency hoax to bed,” Tuberville said. “For the past six years, I’ve proudly represented Alabama in the United States Senate. 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.”

The party said Tuberville submitted state tax records, property and home ownership records, driver’s licenses, voter registration and other corroborating material demonstrating his residency. The document said McFeeters was given the opportunity to question Tuberville on the witness stand about how much time he spends in Alabama and in Florida.

Property tax records show Tuberville and his wife own a beach home in Florida valued at $5.6 million. His campaign has said his residence is a home in Auburn. The 1,551-square-foot property has an appraised value of about $291,780. The Auburn home was purchased by his wife and son in 2017. The senator’s name was later added to the property in 2024, and the son’s name removed. Both the Auburn and Florida homes appear to have recently been put in a revocable trust.

Tuberville released heavily redacted Alabama income tax returns from 2018 to 2024 as evidence he meets the seven-year residency requirement. The returns list a redacted Auburn address and indicate the Tubervilles moved to the state in August 2018.

Voting records show Tuberville voted in Florida in November 2018. He registered to vote in Alabama on March 28, 2019, about two weeks before announcing his run for Senate.

McFeeters said Tuberville’s Senate travel records also show frequent travel to the Florida Panhandle, which he said buttresses the idea that he resides in the location. License records show McFeeter’s insurance producer license is up to date, through April 2028.

In a seven-page document explaining their decision, party officials cited Tuberville’s evidence, including his voting history in Alabama. The officials said courts have determined voter registration to be an important consideration when determining domicile.

Tuberville was head football coach at Auburn University from 1999 to 2008. He then coached at Texas Tech and the University of Cincinnati. He went to work for ESPN after retiring from coaching. In a 2017 promotional video for ESPN, he talked about moving to Florida after retiring from coaching.

The residency requirement in the Alabama Constitution is awkwardly worded, which could muddy any legal dispute. It says the governor and lieutenant governor “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.”

Tuberville faced similar accusations when he ran for Senate in 2020. He was up against Jeff Sessions, who was running for the same seat that he held before he became Trump’s first attorney general. Sessions aired a television advertisement describing Tuberville as a “Florida Man.” Tuberville won 61% of the vote, compared with 39% for Sessions, in a Republican primary runoff, and went on to defeat Doug Jones, the Democratic incumbent.

Tuberville and Jones are headed to a rematch in the governor’s race in November.

Stadthagen said in a statement that, “it is time for the ALGOP to firmly close and lock this chapter and turn our full attention toward defeating liberal Democrat Doug Jones” and “keeping Alabama the brightest red Republican state in the nation.”

Insurance Journal staff contributed to this report.