Busted: GOP senator cast out-of-state ballot — and could doom gubernatorial bid

Sen. Tommy Tuberville (R-AL) is facing tougher questions than ever about where he actually lives and whether he meets Alabama's residency requirements in his planned bid for governor, Kyle Whitmire wrote in an opinion analysis for AL.com published on Friday.

The far-right pro-Trump senator has faced accusations since at least 2023 that he has been secretly living in Florida rather than Alabama — and voting records only bolster these suspicions, Whitmire argued. The residency requirements to run for governor are stricter than for senator, requiring seven years in the state.

"If he truly was an Alabama resident, his income taxes should show it. It’s a chance to lay his cards face up on the table and take the whole pot," wrote Whitmire. "But so far he hasn’t. Instead, Tuberville has fallen back on a different argument — that his wife’s homestead exemption in Auburn is enough to prove his residency going back to 2018. A homestead exemption is a property tax break homeowners can take on their primary residence."

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The trouble is, said Whitmire, there are records showing Tuberville voted in Florida during the time he claims he can establish residency in 2018.

"In 2018, Tuberville’s wife, Suzanne, and their son Tucker claimed a homestead exemption on a house in Auburn. (Tommy Tuberville was not on that deed but this is what says is proof of his residency.) However, later that same year, Tuberville and his wife continued to vote in Florida, according to election records," he wrote.

In May 2019, he noted, "Tuberville told talk radio host Dale Jackson that he moved back to Alabama in August of 2018 ... Jackson noted that Tuberville voted in Florida in November of that year, which Tuberville did not dispute. Jackson asked Tuberville whether he voted for Matt Gaetz, and Tuberville said he voted for the full Republican ticket."

He said he had moved to Florida because it had better airport access for his ESPN job at the time.

Moreover, in 2023, Senate records showed Tuberville "making frequent trips to the Florida panhandle."

"If he wants to show where he’s lived, he needs to show us his taxes. And while he’s at it, it wouldn’t hurt to show his utility bills, too. Where he flushes his toilet probably tells us more than his homestead exemption," concluded Whitmire. "He can do it now. Or he can wait for a political challenger to take him to court."