The first hearing in the newest—and most substantial—challenge to United States Senator Tommy Tuberville’s residency will be held later today in a Montgomery courtroom.
Judge Brooke Reid will hear arguments from both sides on whether to continue with the case filed by two veterans who say Tuberville does not meet the residency requirements to be eligible for Alabama governor.
Alabama filed the motion triggering the hearing, arguing that the court should dismiss the case because it has no authority to make such a determination.
“Plaintiffs ask this Court to tread uncharted waters,” the state said in its motion. “So far as the Secretary of State can tell, the Supreme Court of Alabama has never held that a quo warranto action can (1) bypass the jurisdiction-stripping statute’s bar and thus affect an ongoing election cycle; (2) adjudicate the qualifications of a party’s nominee; or (3) permit naming third parties (like Secretary Allen) not identified by the quo warranto statutes (and then asserting collateral claims against them).”
Most of the arguments likely to be heard in Reid’s courtroom this afternoon have already played out on paper, with the plaintiffs filing a response Friday opposing the motion to dismiss the case.
“Much of the discussion in Tuberville’s memorandum in support of his motion to dismiss is hyperbole and is irrelevant to the legal questions presented,” the plaintiffs argued in the filing. “For example, the repeated exhortation he was the overwhelming winner of the Republican primary is irrelevant to whether the certification and potential election as Governor violates the Alabama Constitution. Constitutional rights are not decided by majority rule (particularly when those voting belong to only one political party).”
Both sides agree on one thing: Time is of the essence. A ruling in the case could result in Tuberville being ruled ineligible for the ballot. It is not clear whether the Republican Party would have any opportunity to replace Tuberville as the nominee before the general election, setting up a potential situation in which Democratic nominee Doug Jones runs unopposed.
The first element of the state’s motion to dismiss relies on an Alabama statute that the state says bars courts from interfering in election matters. The state also argues that a quo warranto challenge cannot be brought against a candidate who does not yet hold public office.
The plaintiffs argue that the challenge is not an election contest. They accept that Tuberville won the nomination through the Republican Party’s primary process, but they argue the case challenges his eligibility to serve as governor.
“Tuberville’s position is that no court can hear any challenge to his constitutional ineligibility either before or after the primary because that issue is exclusively reserved for the Alabama Republican Party. And, according to Tuberville, after the general election, no court has jurisdiction to interpret or apply the Constitution to his ineligibility because any such challenge falls within the exclusive purview of the Legislature,” the plaintiffs argued. “In other words, at no time can Tuberville’s obvious failure to satisfy the constitutional prerequisites for Governor ever be subject to judicial scrutiny or review.”
Reid will hear those arguments and more at 1 p.m. today at the Montgomery County Courthouse.
