Montgomery County Circuit Judge Brooke Reid held a hearing on Monday over a lawsuit attempting to block the gubernatorial aspirations of U.S. Sen. Tommy Tuberville (R-Auburn).
The lawsuit filed by Barry Ragsdale alleges Tuberville is constitutionally prohibited from serving as governor "because he fails to satisfy the seven-year durational residency requirement contained in the Alabama Constitution."
Attorneys for Tuberville filed a motion to dismiss the lawsuit last week. A decision on the motion is expected within a week.
Tuberville, the Republican nominee for governor, will face former U.S. Sen. Doug Jones, a Democrat, in the November general election.
Jon Gray, a spokesman for the Tuberville campaign, told 1819 News on Monday, "We've already proven with over 100 pages of documentation that Tommy Tuberville has been a citizen resident of the state of Alabama since he came here in 2019, March of 2019. It is undisputed. Nobody can point to a single piece of evidence since March of 2019 showing that Tommy Tuberville gave up his residency in Alabama and established it anywhere else. That is what the court says is required."
"Nobody can point to anything after 2019 where Tommy Tuberville gave up his Alabama residency and established one somewhere else. They say he went to Florida. We don't disagree. He goes to Florida all the time. He's got a vacation home there. He's down there on the weekends. He's down there for the 4th of July. That's got nothing to do with it. Section 85 of the state Constitution says a temporary absence from the state shall not disqualify you of residency. Well, I don't know what a vacation home is if by definition it's not a temporary abode. The Constitution specifically strips the judicial system of anything to do with this matter," he added. "Article 5 of the state Constitution says the review of the Constitution, the laws of this state shall be vested in the unified judicial system of Alabama, that's our third branch of government, unless otherwise provided for. That otherwise provided for comes in Section 115 where the Constitution says in a challenge of governor, lieutenant governor, attorney general, or any of the other statewide offices, the election challenge shall be heard by the Legislature with both houses sitting in joint session as a tribunal and their decision shall be final. Section 115 literally took it away from the courts and gave it directly to the Legislature."
Gray continued, "I think the reason the Republicans held the challenge on Tommy Tuberville is they wanted the people of Alabama to know that they were going to take this seriously. Otherwise, they could've just swept it under the rug. There has been a hearing. The facts established this. The Democrats are really doing this for one reason because 'D.C. Doug' (Jones) can't win on the issues."
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