MONTGOMERY, Ala. – Republican gubernatorial candidate Ken McFeeters has filed a formal challenge to U.S. Sen. Tommy Tuberville’s residency in his campaign for governor.
McFeeters claims Tuberville does not meet the residency requirement set in Alabama’s Constitution and is therefore ineligible to appear on the ballot for the May 19 primary.
The Constitution requires that the governor be a citizen of Alabama for “at least seven years next before the date of their election.” McFeeters’ legal challenge lies in the meaning of the phrase “next before.”
“The phrase ‘next before’ is a well-established term of art in constitutional and statutory interpretation,” McFeeters said in a press release. “Courts have consistently held that it means the seven-year period immediately preceding the election, without interruption, not an aggregate total accumulated over time.”
McFeeters resides in Pelham and owns an insurance company. He qualified for the gubernatorial race last week. He is claiming that based on reporting and public records, Tuberville has not been a resident of Alabama for the last seven years consecutively.
“What a ridiculous PR stunt from a desperate candidate,” a spokesperson from Tuberville’s campaign told ADN in a written statement. “Senator Tuberville has proudly represented Alabama in the United States Senate for the past six years. This made-up narrative didn’t work when he was running for Senate in 2019, and it certainly isn’t going to work now.”
Alabama Daily News in April reported the Auburn home Tuberville claims as his primary residence has had a homestead exemption applied to it since 2018.
Records show the home was purchased in the name of Suzanne Tuberville, the senator’s wife, and their son, Tucker Thomas Tuberville. The senator’s name was recently added, and the son’s removed, according to online records.
The Tubervilles own two properties in Walton County on the Florida panhandle, according to records from the county appraiser’s office. Neither property has had a homestead exemption filed by Tuberville in the last seven years. Homeowners can only claim one homestead tax exemption.
McFeeters says that travel records filed as part of Tuberville’s U.S. Senate expense reports and political action committee filings show lots of travel to Florida but little to or from Auburn. McFeeters’ release also noted that Tuberville and his wife have voted in Alabama in the last seven years.
“If the Alabama Republican Party were to take the position that Senator Tuberville did not continuously reside at his Auburn address during that time, then this raises a separate and serious issue regarding the legality of those votes,” McFeeters said in the release. “The Party cannot credibly maintain both that he was not a resident for constitutional purposes and that his voting history was lawful.”
The Alabama Republican Party would not comment on the specific case, but the GOP’s Director of Legislative Affairs and Communications, Jeannie Negrón Burniston, did explain the process.
The candidate challenge window opened on Monday and will close at 12 p.m. on Friday. Once that window has closed, the GOP’s candidate committee will review all of the challenges it receives and will determine which meet the threshold to be heard, Burniston told ADN in a written statement.
“In those cases, both the challenger and the challengee will be notified and invited to a hearing to present their respective cases,” Burniston said. “Following the hearing, the Candidate Committee will make a determination based on the information presented and will notify both parties of its decision.”
McFeeters told Alabama Daily News Tuesday that if the party decides to hear his challenge, a ruling could take about a month.
He said reasonable Alabamians don’t believe that Tuberville lives in a modest home in Auburn rather than his multi-million dollar Florida beach home.
“It’s idiotic,” McFeeters said. “That’s why the Alabama Republican Party has to do the right thing, because the people aren’t going to believe them if they say, yes, he does (live in Auburn.)”
McFeeters also said it’s critical to get the matter settled prior to the primary. A challenge and removal after Tuberville is the nominee would be cumbersome for Republicans.
Mary Sell contributed to this report.