BIRMINGHAM, Ala. – Alabama gubernatorial candidates Tommy Tuberville and Doug Jones slid to blowout wins and declared victory for their parties’ nominations early on Tuesday night.
Jones, a former U.S. senator, defeated five opponents in the Democratic field. Current U.S. Sen. Tuberville bested two GOP candidates to earn the Republican nomination.
The general election match-up will be a repeat of the 2020 general that got Tuberville elected to the U.S. Senate. Tuberville won that contest with around 60% of the vote.
As expected, Tuberville dominated the Republican gubernatorial field. He earned 421,745 votes, or 85.5%, as of early Wednesday morning. Ken McFeeters got 47,165 votes, or 9.6%. “Alabama” Will Santivasci got 24,455 votes, or around 5%.
McFeeters previously filed a legal challenge to Tuberville’s residency status. The Alabama Constitution requires the governor to have lived in Alabama for the seven years preceding the election. After the Alabama Republican Party dismissed the challenge, McFeeters filed a lawsuit. A judge dismissed that suit on Tuesday.
Jones also easily won his party’s nomination, taking 78.6% of the Democratic vote with 286,416 votes. He was the last Democrat to hold a statewide office and represented Alabama in the U.S. Senate from 2018 to 2021.
Will Boyd and Yolanda Rochelle Flowers followed Jones with 35,249 and 18,209 votes, respectively.
Speeches
The race was called for Tuberville just as he began his victory speech at Vulcan Park on Tuesday night. Though he acknowledged he’ll be again facing off with Jones, Tuberville said he is running against “socialism and communism,” not any particular candidate.
“I’m not running against a person, I’m running against an ideology that is so bad, that is so far left, that has nothing to do with the last 250 years (during which) this country has been great,” Tuberville said.
Tuberville’s speech was full of characteristic football references and mentions of the political division he sees in Congress. It was followed by a fireworks show.
Tuberville mentioned priorities of lowering Alabamians’ power bills, eliminating diversity, equity and inclusion, and putting “God back in our country.”
“We’ll make everything better to sell (to) the people that will come here, to make your lives better, your family’s lives better, our state better, and we’re going to be the number one state in the country, the state of Alabama,” Tuberville said.
Both Tuberville and Jones talked about the importance of keeping young people in Alabama.
Jones’ victory speech – also delivered in Birmingham – was centered around change. The address was full of pledges to bring together Alabamians from across the political spectrum to make sure “state government serves the people.”
Alabama hasn’t had a Democratic governor since 2003.
He called the primary victory humbling and said his campaign has been rooted in shared concerns about the future of the state of Alabama.
“Tonight I’m asking that all of those folks, everybody across the state, come together, come together by recognizing that what is at stake for Alabama is bigger than any party, it’s bigger than any faction, it’s bigger than any one person,” Jones said. “This is a campaign for all of Alabama, and that’s how we started. This campaign started and has always rested on one simple belief: that there’s enough folks in Alabama who refuse to accept the way things are, the way things have always been.”
Jones brought onto the stage other Democratic candidates for statewide office, including lieutenant governor hopeful Rep. Phillip Ensler of Montgomery and attorney general candidate Jeff McLaughlin.
He also talked about affordability, one of the most important issues for primary voters across the country this election season. Jones also vowed to expand Medicaid and raise the minimum wage.
The two now head to the campaign trail. The general election will be held on Nov. 3.
Alabama Daily News will update the vote totals in this story as more precincts report.