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The Tiger in the Room – The Problem with Tommy Tuberville
Residency questions, financial controversies, and a record that raises serious doubts about his candidacy for governor.
by Joshua Kotlowski | Owner and Writer for Bama Blues
On May 27, 2025, Tommy Tuberville officially announced his campaign for governor of Alabama, bringing months of speculation to an end. But even as his campaign began, serious questions were already surrounding his candidacy, from ongoing concerns about his residency to a series of financial controversies that have followed him since his Senate run six years ago.
At a time when Alabama is already facing growing scrutiny over corruption and mismanagement in state government, from the prison crisis highlighted in the HBO documentary The Alabama Solution to the ongoing fight over soaring electric bills tied to Alabama Power and the Public Service Commission, many voters are asking whether the state can afford more of the same. Tuberville’s record suggests that those concerns may only grow louder.
Residency Questions and the Florida Problem
Chief among those concerns is the ongoing argument over Tuberville’s residency. The Alabama Constitution requires that a candidate for governor must have resided within the state for the seven years preceding the election. Critics, however, have repeatedly pointed to records suggesting that Tuberville may actually live in Florida rather than Alabama.
At first glance the situation appears complicated. Tuberville owns property in both states, including a large $5.5 million estate in Santa Rosa Beach, Florida, as well as a more modest $300,000 property in Auburn, Alabama. But the details become clearer when those properties are examined more closely.
The Washington Post reported in August 2023 that Tuberville had sold his last Alabama business property, Tiger Farms LLC, for $1.1 million. The Auburn property that Tuberville now claims as his primary residence was not even in his name until 2024, when it was added to a deed previously held by his wife and son.
Meanwhile, campaign finance filings have for years listed Tuberville’s residence as Santa Rosa Beach. Tuberville himself acknowledged living there in a 2017 video with ESPN, saying, “Six months ago, after 40 years of coaching football, I hung up my whistle and moved to Santa Rosa Beach, Florida.”
“It’s belittling to the average person in Alabama for him to think we believe that he’s being sincere when he says he lives at his son’s $300,000 house when he’s got a $6 million beach house.”
Ken McFeeters
If those records were not already raising questions, fellow Republican gubernatorial candidate Ken McFeeters has added further fuel to the debate. McFeeters has obtained years of vehicle service records for Tuberville’s personal vehicle that show it consistently being serviced in and around Santa Rosa Beach rather than Auburn.
Ken McFeeters, an Alabama insurance agent who is also running for governor, is the first candidate to formally challenge Tuberville’s residency. McFeeters has argued that Tuberville’s claim of living in Auburn strains credibility given the senator’s multimillion-dollar property in Florida. In a letter to Alabama Republican Party officials, McFeeters wrote that Tuberville’s Auburn property appears to function as little more than an “address of convenience” rather than a true domicile.
“It’s belittling to the average person in Alabama for him to think we believe that he’s being sincere when he says he lives at his son’s $300,000 house when he’s got a $6 million beach house,” McFeeters said. “Where would you live?”
The Alabama Republican Party, however, declined to pursue the issue further. Rather than investigating the claims or requiring Tuberville to provide additional documentation of his residency, party officials appear to have dismissed the challenge entirely, according to a statement from Tuberville’s campaign chairman.
To his credit, McFeeters has also said that if Tuberville were able to clearly prove his Alabama residency, he would drop out of the race and endorse him. “If Tuberville releases the above information and it proves he has truly lived in a garden home in Auburn, Alabama, for the last seven years, I will drop all legal action. I will withdraw from the race. I will endorse him. I will contribute $1,000 to his campaign. And I will vote for him,” McFeeters wrote in a post on Facebook.
So far, Tuberville has not taken him up on that offer.
A Legal Risk for the Republican Party
If these questions about residency seem concerning, the potential consequences could be even more serious. In a recent column, Josh Moon, of Alabama Political Reporter, argued that the issue could become a legal headache for the Alabama Republican Party.
If Tuberville were to win the Republican primary in May, a court challenge to his residency filed in Montgomery could potentially result in him being disqualified from the race altogether. In that scenario, the ruling could come too late for the Alabama Republican Party to replace him on the November ballot, effectively handing the election to the Democratic nominee.
Financial Questions Follow Tuberville’s Career
Residency questions alone would be enough to raise serious doubts about Tuberville’s viability as a candidate. But they’re far from the only controversies that have followed him throughout his political career. Long before entering into politics, his business ventures and financial dealings were already drawing intense scrutiny.
One of the most significant controversies dates back to his involvement with TS Capital Partners, a financial firm that Tuberville co-owned in the late 2000s. The firm collapsed after investors accused its operators of mismanaging and diverting millions of dollars from clients. Tuberville’s business partner, John Stroud, was later indicted on fraud charges involving nearly $5 million. Tuberville himself denied wrongdoing and was not criminally charged, but eight investors filed civil lawsuits against him over the losses. In 2013, Tuberville settled those claims outside of court for more than $2 million. The size of the settlement has continued to raise questions about his role in the venture and what he knew about the firm’s activities.
More questions about Tuberville’s financial activities surfaced again years later through the financial records of his veterans charity, known as the Tommy Tuberville Foundation. The organization was created with the stated goal of assisting disabled veterans, particularly by modifying homes to improve mobility. Despite raising more than $250,000 in donations, reporting by The New York Times, The Washington Post, and AL.com found that only a small portion of the funds were ultimately used for charitable projects. Significant amounts were instead spent on “administrative costs,” including travel, golf events, and the purchase of a vehicle used by Tuberville. The foundation was audited in 2023, but no criminal investigation was pursued.
More recently, Tuberville has faced criticism over his stock trading while serving in the United States Senate. Financial disclosure reports show that he has conducted hundreds of stock trades since taking office, including investments in industries that can be directly affected by legislation before Congress. Ethics watchdogs have argued that such trading creates the appearance of a conflict of interest, since members of Congress have access to sensitive economic and policy information not available to the general public. The issue has become particularly controversial as bipartisan proposals have repeatedly been introduced in Washington to restrict or ban congressional stock trading altogether.
Tuberville has defended the practice. Responding to proposals that would bar members of Congress from trading individual stocks, he has called it ridiculous and argued that such restrictions would discourage people from running for office, once stating that “it would really cut back on the amount of people that would want to come up here and serve” under those conditions. Taken at face value, the comment suggests that the ability to trade stocks while in office is an important incentive for some candidates, including Tuberville himself.
A Pattern That Raises Questions
Taken together, these episodes paint a vivid image of a man who is not afraid to toe the line of what is legal in pursuit of financial gain. That alone should give voters pause in a state already marred by repeated corruption scandals in its highest offices and political bodies.
“Taken together, these episodes paint a vivid image of a man who is not afraid to toe the line of what is legal in pursuit of financial gain.”
Joshua Kotlowski
Alabamians do not have to look far into the past for a reminder of how damaging those scandals can be. Former Governor Robert Bentley was forced to resign after it was revealed he had misused campaign resources while conducting an affair with a member of his staff. After decades of controversy surrounding Tuberville’s financial dealings, voters must decide whether that kind of record represents the leadership Alabama truly needs.
Tommy Tuberville entered the governor’s race promising to bring leadership and accountability to Montgomery. But his record raises serious questions about whether he represents the kind of change many Alabamians are hoping for.
Between unresolved residency questions, a history of financial controversies, and years of criticism over his conduct in public office, voters are left with an unavoidable question: is this the kind of leadership Alabama needs at a time when trust in government is already fragile?
The coming election will ultimately answer that question. But before casting their ballots, voters would be wise to take a hard look at the full record of the man asking to become their next governor.
For Alabama voters, the problem with Tommy Tuberville may ultimately be a question of trust.
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