MONTGOMERY, Ala. – A judge on Thursday dismissed a lawsuit claiming that Tommy Tuberville does not meet the constitutional requirements to be Alabama’s next governor.
Montgomery Circuit Court Judge Brooke Reid ruled that the court does not have jurisdiction to hear the case, which was brought as a petition for quo warranto. Tuberville, a current U.S. senator and Republican nominee for governor, filed a motion to dismiss the case last month, arguing that the matter had already been settled by the Alabama Republican Party’s formal hearing about his residency.
The plaintiffs, two military veterans, argued that Tuberville’s status as a certified nominee gave him “quasi-officer” status, placing him under a state law designed to remove ineligible office-holders. But Reid’s order concludes that Alabama law does not permit her to take up a quo warranto case for a party nominee.
“While the ‘office of nominee’ has been recognized by Alabama Courts as conferring ‘quasi-officer’ status, thereby giving its holder a valuable right, there is currently no case law of which this Court is aware holding that a ‘quasiofficer’ falls within the definition of public officer,” Reid wrote.
Tuberville’s reaction
Tuberville’s attorney, Joe Espy, applauded the ruling saying it affirms his argument that the courts should stay out of the matter.
“The court’s decision today follows the Alabama constitution and the law that has been in effect for generations and generations,” Espy said. “Hopefully the court’s decision brings an end to all litigation. The decision on our next governor should not be up to any court, but rather the people of Alabama.”
The Tuberville campaign celebrated the ruling with familiar football metaphors, saying Democrats’ efforts to keep the former Auburn coach off the ballot “got sacked for a loss.”
“Coach is now 5-0 against these ridiculous challenges, and we are confident he will win the championship with the people of Alabama in November,” campaign chairman Jordan Doufexis said.
The campaign has repeatedly accused Democratic gubernatorial nominee Doug Jones of being behind the lawsuit and other residency challenges, calling it “Democrats’ residency hoax.” Jones himself has not been involved legally and has avoided commenting publicly about it.
Tuberville will face Jones in the general election, a rematch of the 2020 Senate race that first sent Tuberville to Washington. The election is on Nov. 3.
More on the law
The ruling comes after Reid heard arguments from both sides in a Montgomery courtroom last week. Like her decision, the hearing only had to do with Tuberville’s motion to dismiss, not the facts of the case.
The plaintiffs’ attorney, Barry Ragsdale, argued last week that the case is a matter of the court interpreting the Alabama Constitution, a duty reserved for the courts.
Reid, in her decision, agreed that this is a point “not to be overlooked.”
“The suggestion that Courts are without authority, when properly invoked, to rule upon the Constitutional eligibility of a nominee to hold office is lacking in merit,” she writes.
Her ruling instead hinges on the lack of case law about quo warranto for nominees. She recognized that the Alabama Code gives courts very limited authority around elections and that the timing of the case means she doesn’t have jurisdiction.
“…there is no Alabama case expressly endorsing or rejecting the use of quo warranto to challenge eligibility of a certified nominee prior to the general election,” Reid writes. “Public interest certainly weighs in favor of judicial resolution of Constitutional eligibility to hold office in advance of a general election.”
Reid wrote that there might be other ways to challenge a certified nominee’s constitutional eligibility to hold office, but because the plaintiffs only invoked quo warranto, she doesn’t have jurisdiction.
She also held that her decision does not imply that other courts shouldn’t consider a quo warranto remedy for the case or that the plaintiffs must stop seeking court intervention over the Tuberville residency question.
The plaintiffs’ initial complaint alleged that Tuberville has not resided in Alabama for the last seven years, meaning he would be constitutionally ineligible to hold the office of governor.
They lay out that Tuberville repeatedly went to his Florida home, not Auburn, where he says he lives, when returning from representing Alabama in Washington. The complaint also references several advertisements and interviews where Tuberville mentions living in Florida.
Alabama Daily News reported last year that the Auburn home Tuberville claims as his primary residence has had a homestead exemption applied to it since 2018.
The plaintiffs can appeal the ruling to the Alabama Supreme Court immediately.