The Alabama Supreme Court on Friday dismissed a case challenging U.S. Sen. Tommy Tuberville’s residency as he campaigns for governor.
The court upheld a lower court’s July decision dismissing a lawsuit against the Republican gubernatorial nominee, ruling it lacked jurisdiction over the case.
“We conclude that the circuit court lacked subject-matter jurisdiction to consider the relators’ action and that it, therefore, properly dismissed the action,” the court wrote.
The justices also found that the power to challenge a candidate’s eligibility for office rests with the political parties.
Tuberville, who is running against Democratic former U.S. Sen. Doug Jones for Alabama governor, has faced several challenges to his claim that he meets the constitutional seven-year residency requirement to become governor.
Earlier this year, two realtors filed a lawsuit that argued 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 the Supreme Court, like the lower court, said Alabama law does not permit it to take up a quo warranto case for a party nominee because they do “not exercise any public office.”
Jordan Doufexis, Tuberville’s campaign chair, praised the latest dismissal of the residency challenges.
“It’s time to quit playing games with our elections and let the people of Alabama have their say,” Doufexis said in a statement. “Tommy Tuberville is a resident of Alabama. Tommy Tuberville is on the ballot. And the people of Alabama are going to remember it on November 3.”
The plaintiffs’ attorney, Barry Ragsdale, said they were “disappointed” by the decision “but not particularly surprised.”
“Today’s decision opens the door to ineligible candidates, including non-U.S. citizens, to seek elected office so long as the political parties fail to do their jobs in ensuring that their nominees comply with the Constitution,” Ragsdale said in a statement. “It is another sad day for the Rule of Law.”
The plaintiffs’ initial complaint laid 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 rather than Alabama.
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. Public records obtained by ADN show that Tuberville and his wife voted by mail in an election in Walton County, Florida, in November 2018.
In June, the Alabama Republican Party rejected a challenge from Tuberville’s former GOP gubernatorial opponent, Ken McFeeters, that argued he did not meet the seven-year resident requirement.
You can read the Alabama Supreme Court’s opinion here.