Republican Tommy Tuberville has declared victory in Alabama’s gubernatorial race, but Democrat Doug Jones hasn’t conceded.
Tuberville, Alabama’s senior U.S. senator, earned 813,042 votes, or 52.86%, according to unofficial election night returns from the secretary of state’s website as of 11:27 p.m. Jones had 719,606 votes, or 46.79%.
Still not called by any national news outlets, the rematch between Tuberville and Jones is by far the closest governor’s race in the last decade. Tuberville won with 60% of the vote the last time the two met in the 2020 Senate race that kickstarted the former college football coach’s career.
The more than 700,000 votes cast for Jones were the highest showing for any Democratic gubernatorial nominee since at least 2014. Jones, who served in the U.S. Senate from 2018 to 2021, was the last Democrat to hold statewide office.
Tuberville claimed his win at The Hotel at Auburn University on Tuesday night. His watch party was mostly closed to the media, with members of the press congregating in a holding area away from the event.
Before any national news outlet called the race in his favor, he addressed a crowd of around 400 supporters in the hotel’s auditorium, pledging to be a governor for all Alabamians
“You folks who didn’t vote for me, listen, I’m going to be your governor too,” Tuberville said. “And a lot of you didn’t vote for me. I don’t understand why, but honestly, at this point, I don’t care who you voted for because (we have) a lot of work to do, and my goal isn’t just to help one group, it is to help all. My goal is to help everyone who wants to be part of a championship team. I only care whether you’re willing to roll up your sleeves and help make Alabama better. That’s what matters now.”
Tuberville said the state has “the strongest foundation we’ve had in a long time,” citing recent economic development, climbing education rankings and a drop in unemployment. His administration will focus on making Alabama better “every single day,” he said.
“Here’s the thing: good isn’t the same as great, and great isn’t the same as being a champion. I know what it takes to get there, and it starts with being honest about ourselves with some tough love from an old ball coach,” Tuberville said. “You don’t win championships by sitting around talking about what you did last year. It doesn’t happen. You get back to work. You look at the score board. You look at what you’re doing well. You look at where you’re failing, and you get better every single day. That’s what we’re going to do in our great state of Alabama.”
Jones, who held a watch party for supporters at the Sheraton Birmingham Hotel, has not conceded the race as of 11:30 p.m.
He told the crowd around 10:45 p.m. that he thought any concession would be “way premature.” Jones estimated that at least 100,000 votes remained to be counted in Jefferson County.
“There’s kind of good news and bad news,” Jones said. “The bad news is that this is not a victory speech. The good news is it’s not a concession speech either. We’ve been watching all of this unfold tonight. It has been a slow process, it dribbles in and dribbles out, but the fact of the matter is, there’s still a hell of a lot of votes out there.”
This is a breaking news story.