Nov. 25 (UPI) — Former U.S. Sen. Doug Jones made his attempted political comeback official Monday, announcing he was running for governor of Alabama in next year’s election.
Jones is the last Democrat statewide elected official in the deeply red state after winning a special U.S. Senate election in 2017 only to lose his seat in 2020 to Republican newcomer Tommy Tuberville. The announcement by Jones sets up a likely rematch with Tuberville, a former Auburn University football coach, who is also running for governor.
“We’re going to be listening to people across the state,” Jones said in a video posted to X announcing what he called the “worst-kept secret” in the state. “We’re going to do everything we can to bring the people back to the state capitol of Montgomery, Ala.”
A former prosecutor, Jones narrowly won his Senate seat against Republican Roy Moore as he faced accusations of past sexual misconduct, which he denied. Three years later Tuberville beat Jones in a lopsided victory.
Jones said in the video that people in Alabama “deserve a governor who is going to fight for them” and not treat the office as “a rest stop on the way to the Florida beach,” a reference to allegations that Tuberville’s primary residence is in Florida.
The Alabama Democratic Party announced earlier it would challenge Tuberville’s candidacy on the basis he does not meet the state’s residency requirements to run for governor and his primary residence is in Florida.
“Assuming he’s the Democratic nominee and Tuberville’s the Republican nominee, it sets it up for a very interesting matchup with two candidates, both of whom have good name identification, which is a big part of being electable,” said Lori Owens, a political science professor at Jacksonville State University, told AL.com
Owens said the matchup would mean Tuberville would have to campaign harder against Jones because he’d “be running against somebody who has won and who has a career record himself.” Running Jones would also give the Democratic Party more credibility, Owens said.
However, roughly two-thirds of Alabama voters cast straight-party ballots in 2024, with most voting Republican, according to AL.com