Thursday, during his weekly appearance on Huntsville radio WVNN's "The Dale Jackson Show," State Sen. Sam Givhan (R-Huntsville) reacted to speculation U.S. Sen. Tommy Tuberville (R-Auburn) would forego seeking a second term in the U.S. Senate to run for governor in 2026.
The Huntsville Republican lawmaker warned if Tuberville were to run for governor, which could have the effect of clearing the field of serious contenders but was ultimately deemed ineligible to run for governor, a "crackpot" could have a path to winning that contest.
"If he wants to be U.S. Senator, I don't think he will have any credible competition," Givhan said. "Somebody's going to want to run to see their name on a ballot. I mean, it just usually happens, it doesn't always happen, but usually happens. But you know, it just gives them a chance to raise money and say he's got a campaign, and he increase his war chest and and go from there. But he will have no credible competition — no one that will be funded to run against him. I mean, the one of the few that could self-fund is now ambassador, and so she she's out of play."
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"So, you know, as far as governor, you know, the first thing, we still got a question because owning a house in Alabama is not enough," he added. "I mean, you got to live here seven years. And that's, you know, you don't have to live here a day to run for U.S. Senate. So, that's going to be a hurdle. And one of the fears I started having was, what if he did flush every credible candidate out of the race? And you only had crackpots in and then they challenged it on residency, and the party removed him, and then you only got crackpots."
Jeff Poor is the editor-in-chief of 1819 News and host of "The Jeff Poor Show," heard Monday-Friday, 9 a.m.-noon on Mobile's FM Talk 106.5. To connect or comment, email [email protected] or follow him on Twitter @jeff_poor.
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