Montgomery, Alabama: Tommy Tuberville Wins Governor Race Over Doug Jones in 2020 Rematch

Republican Tommy Tuberville won Alabama's race for governor on Tuesday, November 3, 2026, defeating Democrat Doug Jones in a rematch of their 2020 Senate contest. The Associated Press and NBC News projected Tuberville as the winner. The AP results page listed Tuberville with 872,445 votes and 52.1 percent of the vote, against 47.9 percent for Jones, with 98.67 percent of precincts reporting.

Tuberville, Alabama's senior United States senator and a former Auburn University football coach, will succeed Governor Kay Ivey, who is term limited after two full terms in office. The governor-elect is due to take office in January 2027. His win keeps the governor's office in Republican hands on a night when Democrats won control of both the United States House and the Senate nationally.

A much closer rematch

The margin was far narrower than the first meeting between the two men. In the 2020 Senate race, Tuberville beat Jones, then the incumbent senator, with 60.1 percent of the vote to 39.7 percent. This time Jones won more than 700,000 votes, the strongest showing by a Democratic nominee for Alabama governor since at least 2014, and the contest was the closest Alabama governor's race in a decade. Democrats have not won the office since 1998.

Tuberville declared victory on Tuesday night at The Hotel at Auburn University. Jones, speaking to supporters at the Sheraton Birmingham Hotel, had not conceded as of 11:30 p.m. Central time. He told the crowd that a concession would be premature and estimated that at least 100,000 votes remained to be counted in Jefferson County, the state's most populous county.

Two different offers to voters

Tuberville, 72, announced in May 2025 that he would run for governor instead of seeking a second term in the Senate. He campaigned on working with President Donald Trump to cut taxes, reduce government waste and bring manufacturing jobs to Alabama. On education, he backed wider school choice, including charter, private, public and home school options. He also pledged to defend gun rights, strengthen immigration enforcement and support farmers, seafood producers and veterans.

Jones, who held the Senate seat from 2018 to 2021 after winning a special election, proposed ending Alabama's grocery tax and suspending the state gas tax when fuel prices spike. His platform also called for ending taxes on overtime earnings and raising wages, including the minimum wage.

The two campaigns never met on a debate stage. Tuberville declined to debate, saying there was really no debate to have. His Senate seat was filled on the same ballot: Republican Barry Moore won the race to succeed him in Washington.