COMMENTARY: Can You Really Run for Governor? Alabama’s Seven-Year Residency Law Says Maybe Not

October 21, 2025 Bouldin Commentary, Opinion, Top News 0

By John Cashin

Tommy Tuberville

This is an opinion column.

Here’s some important information to know:

The residency requirement for any U.S. Congressman or Senator is only one day before the election. However, the residency requirement for the Governor of Alabama is seven consecutive years immediately before the election.

According to the Alabama Constitution of 1901, Section 117:

“The governor and lieutenant governor shall each be at least thirty years of age when elected and shall have been citizens of the United States for ten years and resident citizens of this state at least seven years next before the date of their election.”

This means Tommy Tuberville would only become eligible to run for Governor of Alabama after maintaining continuous residence in the state for seven years before the election date.

Federal Constitutional Restrictions

However, note that under Article I, Section 3 of the U.S. Constitution, a sitting U.S. Senator must be “an inhabitant of that state for which he shall be chosen” at the time of election—but not while serving in Congress.

“No person shall be a Senator who shall not have attained to the age of thirty years and been nine years a citizen of the United States, and who shall not, when elected, be an inhabitant of that state for which he shall be chosen.”
— U.S. Constitution, Article I, Section 3, Clause 3

Therefore, since Senator Tommy Tuberville has served in the U.S. Senate since January 3, 2021, he cannot simultaneously be considered an Alabama resident for purposes of the state’s seven-year gubernatorial eligibility requirement.

Constitutional Implications for a Gubernatorial Run

If Senator Tuberville has declared himself an Alabama resident on Federal Election Commission (FEC) or Alabama Secretary of State campaign forms while actively serving in Congress and collecting over $6 million in campaign contributions for a gubernatorial campaign, that presents a potential constitutional conflict.

Under these interpretations:

  • To be eligible for Governor, he must reside in Alabama for seven consecutive years before the election.
  • As a sitting U.S. Senator, he cannot constitutionally “inhabit” Alabama while serving in Congress.
  • Therefore, he would need to resign his Senate seat immediately and then wait seven years before becoming eligible, making him eligible to run for Governor in 2034.

This same logic would apply to former Senator Doug Jones and current U.S. Representatives from Alabama, none of whom would meet the seven-year consecutive residency requirement until several years after leaving Congress.

References