Ken McFeeters, an insurance agent running against Senator Tommy Tuberville (R-AL) for Alabama governor, has filed a challenge alleging Tuberville does not reside in the state. According to The Hill, McFeeters claims Tuberville lives in Santa Rosa Beach, Florida, rather than Alabama and stated, “If you look at it, he does not live in Alabama. And we the people of Alabama, we’re not stupid.”

The Alabama Republican Party dismissed the challenge outright, asserting its team provided “definitive proof” that Tuberville has continuously lived in Alabama since 2019. Campaign manager Jordan Doufexis declared in a press release: “Finally, common sense has prevailed and this made-up ‘residency’ hoax will be put to bed for good.” Doufexis noted Tuberville, who coached at Auburn University from 1999 through 2008 and later at Texas Tech University and the University of Cincinnati, “moved back home to Alabama and has held a driver’s license, voted, and lived in Auburn” since 2019.

McFeeters published a detailed response criticizing the party’s ruling, stating it fails to verify Tuberville’s residency and sets a dangerous precedent: “The practical effect of this ruling is that if a candidate is wealthy enough to purchase a small property and declare it a ‘domicile of convenience,’ the residency requirements of the Alabama Constitution can simply be ignored.” He warned the decision enables “out-of-state elites who can buy a house, pour tens of millions of dollars into a campaign, and claim eligibility while living elsewhere,” calling it “disastrous for Alabama.”

Property records show Tuberville owns a home in Auburn, Alabama, with an appraised value of $291,780 and a homestead exemption, as well as a beach house in Walton County, Florida, valued at $5.5 million where his wife and son initially purchased it in 2017. Tuberville responded to the challenge with “What a joke.”