The Alabama Republican Party (ALGOP) will decide today whether to proceed with a full hearing to weigh allegations that lieutenant gubernatorial nominee John Wahl is ineligible to hold the office due to the state's minimum residency requirements.
Unlike the recently vanquished challenge against gubernatorial hopeful Tommy Tuberville, this challenge was not filed by a jaded former candidate for the office. Instead, the challenge comes from Tim Colling, a Republican from Limestone County who told 1819 News that he and a group of like-minded people in the area believe that, unless the ALGOP can put a "legitimate candidate" on the ballot, the Democrats have a chance at victory.
Colling claims to have presented evidence that Wahl has verifiably been a Tennessee resident within the past seven years, which he says would make Wahl ineligible, since Alabama law requires seven years of residency in the state to be eligible for the office.
Wahl has not denied having a residence in Tennessee. However, he has stated plainly that he can produce evidence that he resided in Alabama for the required period.
"It doesn't say if you've had a residence somewhere out of state," Wahl said in a March radio interview. "It says you have to have had a residence in Alabama, and I can prove this to the state candidate committee that I have had a residence in Alabama for the required time period,"
Questions surrounding Wahl's residency are not new. Before the Republican primary, Wahl's former opponent, Secretary of State Wes Allen, bankrolled a residency challenge filed by former State Rep. Gil Isbell (R-Gadsden) on January 30. However, the ALGOP steering committee narrowly rejected Isbell's challenge against Wahl in February.
ALGOP has not spoken publicly on the challenge. However, members have confirmed that a hearing to address the challenge will be held on Sunday.
If the challenge is approved, a full hearing will be granted for both sides to present their arguments, just like the one recently held for Tuberville, which was handily denied.
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