Coach Tommy Tuberville’s decision to leave his safe U.S. Senate Seat to run for Governor in the upcoming 2026 election cycle has shifted all the excitement and attention away from the Governor’s race and turned the focus toward who will be his replacement for the open Senate Seat.
Our May 19, 2026, Republican Primary is tantamount to election. Therefore, the Senate race, which will be our marque 2026 event, is essentially right around the corner. The candidates will officially qualify in January, and we will see a four-month sprint to the finish line.
The two apparent front runners are two-term Attorney General Steve Marshall, and First District Congressman Barry Moore. They both are bona fide, right-wing Conservatives. They will both try to outright the other. That will be a difficult maneuver as both of them have impeccable, indisputable, ultra conservative credentials. Both of them have spent their entire time in office striving to convince voters that they are to the right of Atilla the Hun. They have neither made any pretense of trying to be an effective Prosecutor or Congressman, but instead made every effort to “bark at the moon.”
If elected, the first thing either Moore or Marshall will do at the beginning of the 2027 Congressional Session will be to find a FOX camera to get in front of and espouse right-wing views and strive to mark themselves as the most right-wing extremist in the U.S. Senate. In short, it really does not matter which of these two right-wing, ineffective idealogues, Moore or Marshall, wins the May Republican Primary. It will be Twiddledee or Twiddledum.
The deciding factor in this race, as it is in every open U.S. Senate race, is money. Whoever raises and spends the most money will win. Money equates into name identification and name identification equates into votes. Neither Marshall nor Moore have great initial name ID. Marshall has about 27 percent and Moore has about 12 percent. Neither have personal wealth, therefore, they both must rely on fundraising.
Marshall is showing a weakness in this area. His early efforts to raise money have been underwhelming. Moore has even taken an early lead in raising money. This trend will continue to an even greater extent. Barry Moore is the boy of the clandestine right-wing, “Daddy Warbucks,” dark money, “Club for Growth.” They will finance Moore to the tune of $10 million or more. Moore and “The Club” will probably outspend Marshall by two to one.
They both will have high priced, experienced D.C. consultants and media gurus, who insist on going negative. Moore and Marshall, through these hired guns, will attack each other with a vengeance. By the time these gurus get through attacking their perceived opposition, most Alabama voters will probably think that both Steve Marshall and Barry Moore shot their mamas in a bar fight. When this happens, voters tend to look for a third person to vote for.
Well folks, there is developing under the radar, three promising potential candidates who are vying for that third-place position that could potentially come in second. These three unknown candidates are Jared Hudson, Morgan Murphy, and Rodney Walker.
Jared Hudson got into the race early. He knows very little about politics or government. He has some name identification in Jefferson County. He is very conservative and very religious. He is a decorated Navy Seal. He has movie star good looks, as does his wife and family. If someone gave him $10 million, he would sell.
Morgan Murphy is a Jefferson County native, a bootstrap Navy Captain, veteran diplomat, and advisor to Senator Tommy Tuberville and President Donald Trump. He is currently working in the Trump Administration. He would know how to be a U.S. Senator on day one.
The sleeper in this race may be Clay County businessman Rodney Walker. Why? Because he has personal wealth. Money is the mother’s milk of politics. Money buys name identification, and name identification equates into votes. His wealth allows him to campaign full time, a luxury Murphy and Hudson do not have. Rodney Walker and his wife, Stacie, are crisscrossing the state with a determined positive campaign.
It will be a good race. The marque event of 2026.
See you next week.
