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Tuberville, under oath at GOP hearing, defends Auburn residency amid challenge
Summary
At a closed-door Alabama Republican Party hearing on a challenge to his gubernatorial nomination, Senator Tommy Tuberville testified that his Auburn home became his primary residence around 2018, cited documentary ties and voter registration, and denied voting improperly while under questioning about a 2018 Florida mail ballot.
Senator Tommy Tuberville told a closed-door Alabama Republican Party hearing that his Auburn house serves as his primary residence and defended the timing and evidence of his move back to Alabama.
Tuberville testified that his family bought the Auburn home in 2017, that his wife and son's names were placed on the deed, and that his name was added to the deed in 2024. He said the house became his primary residence "at the end of 2018." Tuberville's lawyers presented documents they said show he treated the Auburn property as home beginning in about 2018–2019 and pointed to records listing the Auburn address on a driver's license, voter registration and tax documents.
The hearing, convened after someone challenged his nomination to be governor, also examined whether Tuberville voted in Florida while establishing Alabama residency. The transcript shows Tuberville cast a mail-in ballot in Florida in 2018 while he was moving to Auburn and changed his voter registration to Alabama in 2019. During questioning, the challenger's lawyer asked, "Well, you don't want people voting where they're not residents, do you?" Tuberville replied, "Exactly," and when pressed, responded under oath, "I don't think so." The transcript records that exchange but does not include a formal finding about whether his 2018 ballot complied with state residency rules.
Tuberville described his typical schedule to support his residency claim: he said he is in Washington, D.C., from Monday through Thursday most weeks, spends about two weekends a month in Auburn and keeps a car there. He said he goes to Florida about one weekend a month, does not keep a car in Florida, and relies on car services and grocery deliveries while there.
The transcript includes background commentary on his career and finances: he coached at Auburn from 1999 to 2008 and later worked for ESPN; senators' base pay was cited at about $174,000 a year, and the transcript notes that Tuberville could also receive state retirement or investment income. He discussed selling a farm near Auburn that he said produced little money.
On tax matters, Tuberville's lawyers emphasized that he had made efforts to pay state income tax in Alabama as part of establishing residency. The opposing lawyer noted that he did not have to pay income tax in Florida, and the transcript records Tuberville saying, "Yes, I'd like to do the same thing is abolish that income tax here in Alabama," expressing a policy preference while under oath.
The hearing was closed-door; the transcript does not show a formal vote or a final ruling on the nomination challenge. The party's review will determine whether the evidence presented satisfies its rules or whether further proceedings are required.
