The constitutional question at the center of Senator Tommy Tuberville’s residency dispute remains unresolved after a Montgomery County judge dismissed a lawsuit challenging the Republican nominee’s eligibility to serve as governor.
An attorney representing the two Alabama voters who filed the lawsuit said they plan to appeal.
Montgomery County Circuit Judge Brooke Reid dismissed the case Thursday, ruling that the court lacked jurisdiction over the voters’ sole quo warranto claim, a legal action used to challenge whether a person is lawfully holding or exercising public office.
The ruling did not determine where Tuberville lives or whether he has been a “resident citizen” of Alabama for the seven years immediately preceding the November election, as required by Article V, Section 117 of the Alabama Constitution.
In her order, Reid said no Alabama case has expressly approved or rejected the use of quo warranto to challenge the constitutional eligibility of a certified nominee before a general election. She also wrote that the public interest favors resolving constitutional eligibility before a general election but concluded that the court lacked the authority to extend quo warranto to a certified nominee in this case.
Reid noted that declaratory or other injunctive relief might be available to challenge a certified nominee’s constitutional eligibility but found that the court did not have jurisdiction over the sole quo warranto claim before it. The order states that it is final and may be appealed immediately.
Barry Ragsdale, an attorney representing voters Brooke Lynn Dorgan and Justin Jude LeBlanc, said he plans to appeal.
“Everyone who has viewed the credible evidence knows that Tuberville really lives in a $5 million gated mansion on the beach in Florida and not in that tiny house behind a strip mall in Auburn,” Ragsdale said in a statement. “We are confident that, if given a fair opportunity to present that evidence in court, we could easily establish that Tuberville is lying about where he lives and is ineligible to serve as governor.”
The court did not rule on those allegations.
Public property records show that Tuberville and his wife own a Florida beach home valued at approximately $5.6 million.
Tuberville has said he lives in a 1,551-square-foot Auburn home appraised at approximately $291,780. Public records show that Tuberville’s wife and son initially purchased the Auburn property. Tuberville’s name was added in 2024, when his son’s name was removed.
Voting records show that Tuberville last voted in Florida in November 2018 and registered to vote in Alabama on March 28, 2019, about two weeks before announcing his campaign for the U.S. Senate.
Tuberville has said he moved back to Alabama and considers the Auburn property his primary residence.
The Alabama Republican Party rejected an earlier residency challenge in June after a closed hearing before its 21-member steering committee. Party officials cited property, tax and voting records submitted by Tuberville in finding that he had provided sufficient evidence of Alabama residency.
Ken McFeeters, who opposed Tuberville in the Republican primary, filed the party challenge.
Joe Espy, an attorney representing Tuberville, praised Reid’s decision, according to The Associated Press.
Tuberville campaign chairman Jordan Doufexis called the lawsuit politically motivated and linked it to Democratic gubernatorial nominee Doug Jones in a statement reported by the Associated Press.
“Doug Jones’ residency hoax just got sacked for a loss as a Democrat judge in Montgomery dismissed yet another desperate lawsuit from ‘DC Doug’s’ Democrat proxies,” Doufexis said.
Doufexis said Reid “followed the law and rejected a bogus lawsuit aimed at hijacking the election before Alabama voters could decide.”
Doufexis did not provide evidence linking Jones or his campaign to the lawsuit. Two Alabama voters filed the case.
Tuberville is the Republican nominee for governor and is scheduled to face Jones in the November general election.
For now, Tuberville remains on the ballot. The court’s order leaves unresolved whether he meets Alabama’s seven-year residency requirement while giving the plaintiffs a path to an immediate appeal.
