WASHINGTON — Alabama Attorney General Steve Marshall is expected to be the first prominent Republican to announce his candidacy for U.S. Senate. But he won’t be the only contender for the seat being left by Sen. Tommy Tuberville‘s run for governor next year.
This is the state’s second open U.S. Senate seat in four years. It’s an opportunity that’s got a lot of Republicans thinking.
Former Alabama Secretary of State John Merrill has floated a potential run. He said he will decide whether or not to enter the Senate race by the end of June.
“It’s certainly something that we’re considering,” Merrill told Alabama Daily News. “It’s something that we’ve looked at before, something that we’ll look at again.”
Merrill served two terms as secretary of state from 2015 to 2023. He previously considered two bids for U.S. Senate in 2019 and 2021.
Merrill said multiple issues need attention in Alabama and Washington, including health care, law enforcement, and educational opportunities.
Merrill said since Tuberville’s gubernatorial bid announcement Tuesday, he’s heard from multiple people in the state encouraging him to run.
U.S. Rep. Barry Moore, R-Enterprise, said he is “honored to be in the conversation” and said he’s praying about any potential Senate bid.
“I’m proud of the record I have built in the U.S. House as an effective conservative fighter and an ally to President Trump with more than 6,400 federal agency cases resolved for my constituents,” Moore said in a statement.
“My family and I are praying and asking the Lord to guide us in this decision. As we seek His guidance, we’re listening to the people of Alabama and considering how we can best continue to serve this great state.”
Former U.S. Rep. Mo Brooks, R-Huntsville, said he would only consider launching a campaign if he wasn’t confident in the other GOP candidates’ track records.
“The keys to whether I will run for the U. S. Senate are whether I have confidence other GOP candidates have a track record that persuades me they (1) have a good understanding of how to properly handle a myriad of dangerous economic issues looming on America’s horizon, (2) will do what it takes to get America’s debt under control (not just mouth the right words to get votes but actually do what it takes come hell or high water), and (3) do what it takes to protect the jobs and incomes of struggling American families from an ongoing tsunami of cheap legal and illegal foreign labor,” Brooks said in a text message to Alabama Daily News.
Brooks ran unsuccessfully for Senate in 2022, losing to Sen. Katie Britt in a runoff election.
Semafor reported that Auburn men’s basketball coach Bruce Pearl’s name is also being floated as a potential candidate to replace Tuberville. Though Tuberville told the outlet that he “wouldn’t let him do it.”
Before Marshall announced, former Navy SEAL Jared Hudson launched his Senate campaign Wednesday.
“I’ve spent my life taking the fight to America’s enemies,” Hudson said in a press release. “Now it’s time to continue the mission in Washington. I’ll be a warrior for President Trump’s America First Agenda.”
Hudson is the founder and CEO of an anti-trafficking nonprofit, Covenant Rescue Group. He unsuccessfully ran for Jefferson County Sheriff in 2022.
Other potential GOP candidates whose names have been floated include former Alabama Department of Veterans Affairs Commissioner Kent Davis and Caroleene Dobson, an attorney, who ran unsuccessfully against Rep. Shomari Figures, D-Mobile, in the Second Congressional district race last year.
Davis said in a text to Alabama Daily News that in “the next few days we should find out who else is declaring for offices, and then I’ll make up my mind.”
And new in the mix this week: Clay Scofield. The former state senator turned Business Council of Alabama VP is said to be considering a bid “and if there is a path forward there.”
Dr. Benjamin Gross, associate professor of political science at Jacksonville State University, said a candidate’s ability to raise money would help them succeed in the Senate election.
“I think a big thing is going to be who can get the largest war chest to put together that campaign that can go across the state,” Gross told ADN.
He also said political sophistication and understanding the political process, campaigns, and having staff ready to go will be important.
Gross also touched on how important an endorsement from President Donald Trump or Tuberville could be in the GOP Senate primary.
“In the state of Alabama, Trump generally is well-liked, and so an endorsement from President Trump probably would be helpful for a candidate,” Gross said. “From Senator Tuberville, it probably couldn’t hurt.”