HOOVER — U.S. Senator Tommy Tuberville (R-Auburn) filed his qualifying paperwork on Monday at the Republican Party of Alabama (ALGOP) headquarters.
"I decided last summer/spring that my next step would be CEO of the state. I think that fits me better," Tuberville explained in his opening remarks, "It's time to come home."
"I want to make the lives of people of this state better," Tuberville said while laying out his priorities that focused on economic development, education, and workforce development.
"Everybody in this state deserves a great life," Tuberville said. "I'll be the chief recruiter."
In addition to economic development and bringing new jobs to the state, he also noted the need for workforce development.
"We've got to get people who understand that you've got to learn how to use your hands, plumbers, and electricians, nurses."
"We're going to be very progressive with AI. AI is coming. There's no way you can stop it. And so we want to welcome it, but we want to use it the right way. If people say, 'Well, it's going to eliminate jobs?' No, it's not. It's going to eliminate some jobs, but it's going to create other jobs."
On bringing a lottery to the state, he said, "I'm not against the lottery," but stressed that it's not going to alleviate all the state's funding needs.
"There's not enough money in that," he explained. "I have spent the last year discussing with my fellow senators who have been governors around the country, and that's kind of a pipe dream, I think, that you're going to make a lot of money off a lottery. That's not going to happen. There's a lot of expense to it."
"At the end of the day, we can't count on that. What we can count on is bringing things like Space Command, FBI, new manufacturing, Novelis, which is done in Baldwin County, Fannie Mae, which is coming, that we worked for a year on track, trying to get to come to Birmingham, which is really going to enhance that there's a lot of great things that we can do," Tuberville added.
He later said, "We have to show the people across the country that if they want to move their manufacturing or their small business or big business to Alabama, that what we have here is going to enhance their business."
He stressed that he realizes business development goes hand in hand with the conversations he's having about crime and safety. He's ready to address that.
"We are going to get control of it," Tuberville emphasized. "Whether I have to do it or whether we have to hire more policemen, more state troopers, people say, 'We don't have the money.' That's not an option. Not having money for control crime is not an option."
"Because if you don't have safe streets and neighborhoods, you can forget recruiting people to come, small businesses, or manufacturers," he added.
Tuberville was later asked about his residency, to which he replied, "It's not an issue."
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