Lawsuit dismissed in GOP gubernatorial nominee Tommy Tuberville’s residency complaint

FILE – Sen. Tommy Tuberville, R-Ala., a member of the Senate Armed Services Committee, talks to reporters as he and other senators arrive at the chamber for votes, at the Capitol in Washington, Wednesday, Sept. 6, 2023. Tuberville announced on Tuesday, Dec. 5, that he’s ending his blockade of hundreds of military promotions, following heavy criticism from many of his colleagues in the Senate and clearing the way for hundreds to be approved. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite, File)

MONTGOMERY, Ala. (WAKA) – A Montgomery County circuit judge has granted Republican nominee for governor Tommy Tuberville’s motion to dismiss a lawsuit challenging his residency in the state.

Montgomery County Circuit Judge Brooke Reid said the court finds that it does not have the jurisdiction to exercise legal action used to challenge a person’s right to hold a public or corporate office.

“This Court has wrestled at length with the narrow issue of whether quo warranto may be utilized to challenge the Constitutional eligibility of a certified nominee prior to the general election. Indeed, there is no Alabama case expressly endorsing or rejecting the use of quo warranto to challenge eligibility of a certified nominee prior to the general election. Public interest certainly weighs in favor of judicial resolution of Constitutional eligibility to hold office in advance of a general election… While this Court lacks authority to extend the application of quo warranto to a certified nominee, that does not imply that it should not be extended in this case, nor that the Plaintiffs are estopped altogether from seeking Court resolution of Constitutional eligibility to hold office.”

Jordan Doufexis, Chairman of Tuberville’s campaign released this statement to Action 8 News:

“For months, DC Doug and his allies pushed the absurd claim that Alabama’s senior U.S. Senator for the last six years somehow lacks Alabama residency credentials. They were so wrong on the law that they started attacking the Alabama Supreme Court in an effort to blame Republican judges before the local judge had even ruled. Well, that excuse just got blown up. Today’s ruling didn’t come from a Republican court protecting Coach Tuberville; it came from a Montgomery Democrat judge who followed the law and rejected a bogus lawsuit aimed at hijacking the election before Alabama voters could decide. DC Doug cannot run on open borders, men in women’s sports, DEI, defunding the police, the socialist left, or the Biden-Jones record, so his buddies tried to drag Coach through the mud instead. Well, today’s ruling wiped that mud away. Coach is now 5-0 against these ridiculous challenges, and we are confident he will win the championship with the people of Alabama in November.”

As Action 8 News has reported, the lawsuit was filed in June by Brooke Lynn Dorgan and Justin Jude LeBlanc. Dorgan is a resident of Mobile County while LeBlanc is a resident of Jefferson County, according to the lawsuit.

The lawsuit claimed that Tuberville hasn’t lived in Alabama for seven years, which is a requirement in order to run for governor under state law. It sought to have Tuberville prove that he has been an Alabama resident since November 3, 2019, which is seven years before this year’s November 3 general election.

Tuberville has faced accusations that he has been a resident of Florida, where he owns a beach home in addition to a home in Auburn. Despite those questions from some, Tuberville won the Republican primary for governor with 85% of the vote in May.

Tuberville faced similar claims by Ken McFeeters, who was an opponent of Tuberville’s in last month’s Republican primary. McFeeters received 9.5% of the vote in the primary. On Sunday, June 14, the Alabama Republican Party held a hearing that affirmed Tuberville was qualified to be Alabama governor based on tax forms, property records and other documents.

Alabama Secretary of State Wes Allen had also been named in the lawsuit, due to the nature of his position overseeing elections. He had since been removed from the lawsuit.

To read the official ruling, click here.