You do know that Doug Jones isn’t the only Democrat in the race for governor, don’t you?
It’s a question that I have received—sometimes with a bit more colorful language—a lot since Jones announced officially that he was entering the race a couple of days ago. I suppose it’s a fair question, but the fact that you’re having to ask it says a lot about the realities of the 2026 gubernatorial race.
There’s a reason people, including myself, are acting as if Jones is the only viable Democratic candidate in the race.
It’s because Jones is the only viable Democratic candidate in the race.
I don’t say that flippantly, or with any malice. I’m certain the other Democratic candidates are good people, with whom I probably agree on an overwhelming majority of issues. I don’t dislike them. I am in no way belittling them.
They just can’t win. Nor are their candidacies particularly impactful for the party as a whole.
There are now, counting Jones, five Democrats who have filed paperwork and paid their money to qualify for the governor’s race in Alabama. In addition to the former U.S. senator, there’s JaMel Brown, Yolanda Flowers, Chad “Chig” Martin and Will Boyd.
Flowers was the Democratic nominee in the last gubernatorial election, and more than 70 percent of the votes she received came from straight-ticket Dem voters. She lost to Kay Ivey by 40 points, and in the Democratic primary runoff, she and her challenger managed to inspire fewer than 60,000 total votes. In a statewide election. Her 29-percent of the total vote against Ivey was the lowest ever recorded in the state.
She raised less than $15,000 in more than 10 months of campaigning and was forced to return a large number of donations after she publicly supported a ban on abortion.
Brown, in the meantime, registered his campaign committee in June. He hasn’t reported a dime raised and his campaign appears to be an odd mix of sincere community service efforts and truly odd behavior. There is currently a video on his Facebook page of him receiving a standing lap dance and another in which he is apparently falling-down drunk and being helped to walk.
Martin has received an uptick in support from his previous campaigns in the state, thanks in large part to his pro-marijuana-legalization stance. I’m certain he’s a fine fella, but he raised less money than Flowers and finished a distant sixth in the six-candidate Democratic primary in ‘22.
That leaves Jones and Boyd. If we’re honest, these are the only two viable candidates on the Democratic side. And one of them isn’t all that viable.
I like Will Boyd. I think he’s a good, decent and intelligent man who would do great if elected to office.
The problem is he can’t get elected because he keeps running for offices that he’s never going to win.
Boyd moved to Alabama after 2010 and his first campaign was for the U.S. House in District 5. He got just 33 percent of the vote and lost badly to Mo Brooks.
He then ran in the special election for U.S. Senate against Jones. He got less than 5 percent of the vote in the primary.
He next ran for lieutenant governor against Will Ainsworth in 2018. He again got less than 40 percent of the vote.
It’s a shame, because Boyd is exactly the sort of smart, energetic, caring candidate that the party needs. If he built a base of support, worked with party leaders and elected Dems and maybe started a few rungs lower, Boyd could be a force in a few years.
Every politician loses a few elections. But no successful politician only loses. At some point, you have to prove to people that you understand what voters are telling you.
In the meantime, there’s Jones. Whose campaign announcement was picked up by the New York Times, CNN and every major media outlet in America. There has been nearly nonstop chatter among the politicos in this state, and even before he announced his candidacy, the Republicans in this state paid for a poll to discourage him from running.
Jones will raise more money in a month than the other four candidates will have raised in their entire political careers—combined.
And most importantly—because let’s keep in mind that the Democratic nominee will still be a big underdog—Jones at the top of the ticket is a huge boon for the party overall and for all of the other Dem candidates down the ballot. The spectacle of him versus Tommy Tuberville will drive turnout and donations. It will heighten awareness of the Democratic message to working class voters. And it will help build the party and its donor base for the future.
The reality for the Alabama Democratic Party is that it has been an incredibly bad last decade and a half. No single candidate is going to drag the party out of that gutter. It has never happened like that anywhere. Turnarounds start with a spark and a slow build. They rely on making smart, practical decisions. They rely on money and good candidates. And they absolutely require getting people to listen to your message.
Jones has that spark. The time is perfect for the pro-worker, lift-from-the-bottom message of the Democratic Party. This could be the turning point for ADP and all of Alabama.
And that’s why Doug Jones is getting so much attention.
