Alabama GOP – The Alabama Republican Party has agreed to hear Ken McFeeters’ challenge to Tommy Tuberville’s residency as a gubernatorial candidate, setting a hearing for June 13 or 14 in Birmingham. Tuberville’s camp says it will submit tax and property records, while McFe
When the Alabama Republican Party informed Ken McFeeters on Monday morning that its candidate committee would hear his challenge to Tommy Tuberville’s candidacy, the news landed like a sudden reversal—especially after years of being ignored or dismissed.
McFeeters said the party’s attorney sent him an email late Monday morning saying a hearing on the residency issue was being set for June 13 or 14 at the office of Balch & Bingham in Birmingham. He called the decision “completely shocked.”
McFeeters has repeatedly challenged Tuberville to prove he meets Alabama’s requirement that gubernatorial candidates live in the state for seven years before the general election. Tuberville and Alabama Republican Party officials had mostly brushed off those challenges until this point. including a post-qualifying challenge McFeeters filed that the party dismissed as “facially defective” with little discussion.
Tuberville and his staff have consistently said he can prove he meets residency requirements. portraying questions about his residency as “distractions.” Monday’s party decision. though. made it clear that at least within the party’s own process. those “distractions” will now be treated as a matter for witnesses. documents. and sworn testimony.
By Monday evening, Tuberville’s camp signaled it was ready to fight back. According to sources familiar with the process. Tuberville’s attorney began sending documents late Monday afternoon. including Tuberville’s tax returns and property tax receipts. to various entities in preparation for the June hearing. Two sources said the strategy appears aimed at acknowledging Tuberville had taken temporary leave from Alabama at times during the past seven years but never left long enough to relinquish citizenship.
Tuberville’s campaign office said it welcomed the chance to end the dispute and move on. In a statement released to media, the office said: “We’re happy to put the residency issue to bed. It has served its purpose, and it’s time to provide the facts and move on. We will submit a comprehensive response to the Republican Steering Committee. including Coach Tuberville’s tax returns. property records. and other documentation demonstrating that he is a resident citizen of Alabama and has been for well beyond the period required under the Alabama Constitution.”.
Still, the party hearing process itself could be difficult. Under the party bylaws, the hearing allows McFeeters—through his attorneys—to issue five subpoenas for witnesses and five subpoenas for documents, with the ability to question witnesses under oath in a deposition for up to two hours.
The most immediate pressure on Tuberville. beyond the tax returns that have long drawn attention from McFeeters and various media outlets. centers on where he and his wife primarily lived. McFeeters has made the case that Tuberville’s true primary residence was a three-bedroom. one-bathroom home in Auburn—not the multimillion-dollar beach house in Santa Rosa Beach. Florida.
Monday. McFeeters said he planned to subpoena Tuberville. his wife. and one of the couple’s sons for depositions and to focus on household arrangements that could become part of how residency is determined. He said: “I want to ask Mrs. Tuberville. under oath. if she really shared one bathroom with her husband. grown son and all of their house guests for the past seven years. I think that’s a question that will get a very interesting answer.”.
That kind of detail may sound pointed. even flippant. but McFeeters argued the core issue is not bathroom logistics—it’s legal residence. Records such as tax returns and driver’s licenses can help build a picture. but he said nothing matters more than where a person spends most of his or her time. where primary possessions are kept. where they sleep most often. and where they participate in daily routines.
Tuberville’s travel patterns and spending during his time in office are now likely to be part of that picture. The reporting referenced in the dispute points to substantial proof within his Senate reimbursements and PAC spending suggesting he spent considerable time on the Florida coast and little evidence he spent similar time in Auburn.
Those questions may need to be answered twice. Even if Tuberville’s party challenge ends in his favor, the dispute is unlikely to stay inside the party. The piece of the story that remains tense even after Monday’s decision is what happens next: Tuberville almost assuredly will face a legal challenge in circuit court over his residency status. where the legal specifics of residency will matter.
For now, the battle has moved from dismissals and filings into a scheduled hearing date—June 13 or June 14—complete with subpoenas, depositions, and the chance for both sides to lay out their facts under oath.
Tommy Tuberville Ken McFeeters Alabama Republican Party residency challenge gubernatorial candidate Birmingham hearing Balch & Bingham subpoenas depositions
So they’re actually gonna check if he even lives here? about time.
I read “residency challenge” and was like ok cool but aren’t they all just from somewhere else anyway. Tax returns and property receipts won’t mean much if they spin it.
Wait are they meeting June 13 or June 14? why would it be either day lol. Also “sworn testimony” sounds like drama, not facts.
This is just the Alabama GOP finally acting after ignoring it for years… sounds like they were scared to touch it. If Tuberville’s camp can prove he didn’t “leave” Alabama, then it should be simple, but somehow it never is. I don’t even care about tax receipts half the time because people can own stuff and still be gone. And the fact they’re calling it “distractions” makes me think there’s something there, not gonna lie.