CAMPAIGN 2026: Former U.S. Senator Doug Jones enters Alabama governor’s race
FILE – Former U.S. Senator Doug Jones (D-Alabama). Photo from WAKA Action 8 News
CAMPAIGN 2026: Former U.S. Senator Doug Jones is entering the Alabama governor’s race.
Documents have been filed with the Secretary of State’s Office, creating a principal campaign committee for Jones to run for governor as a Democrat.
Jones, a lawyer and former U.S. attorney known for prosecuting two Ku Klux Klansmen responsible for Birmingham’s 1963 church bombing.
Jones was U.S. senator from 2018-2021. He was the last Democrat to be elected to statewide office in Alabama. He won the office in a special election after then-U.S. Senator Jeff Sessions was appointed by President Trump to become Attorney General. Then-Alabama Attorney General Luther Strange was appointed to fill the senate seat, but lost to fellow Republican Roy Moore in the primary. Moore then lost to Jones in the general election.
Jones lost his re-election bid to Republican Tommy Tuberville, who currently holds the seat but is giving it up to run for governor next year.
If both Jones and Tuberville meet in the general election, it will be a rematch for both of them, albeit for a different office.
Republicans have had a lock on the Alabama governor’s office for more than 20 years. Former Gov. Don Siegelman was the last Democrat to hold the office when he was elected in 1998, but lost in 2002 to Republican Bob Riley.
Governor Kay Ivey cannot seek re-election due to term limits.
The Alabama primaries are May 19, 2026.
(Copyright 2025 The Associated Press contributed to this report. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.)
