Tuberville voted in Florida after tax records say he moved back to Alabama

This is an opinion column.

If Tommy Tuberville truly returned to Alabama as a resident in August 2018, why did he head to the polls in Florida just three months later? It is a question that cuts to the heart of a long-standing residency controversy that continues to follow the senator.

The Residency Debate

For years, Tuberville has faced scrutiny regarding his status as an Alabama resident. Under state law, candidates for governor must have resided in Alabama for seven years, a standard many questioned whether he could meet. The optics were complicated by his ownership of a $4 million, 4,000-square-foot beach house on the Florida Gulf Coast, a property he has held for nearly two decades.

By 2023, Tuberville had sold his Alabama property, further fueling skepticism. While his family purchased a modest Auburn home in 2017—valued significantly lower than his Florida retreat—the senator has frequently utilized campaign and taxpayer funds to visit the Sunshine State, often at a frequency rivaling his time in Alabama.

His own words have often added to the confusion. In a 2017 ESPN segment, he explicitly stated he had moved to Florida after his coaching career, labeling it a "great place to live." Even during a recent Alabama Sports Hall of Fame induction, he seemed to stumble over his own geography before reaffirming his Auburn residency.

Tax Records and Political Pressure

The tension peaked when 205focus.com challenged the senator to release his tax returns, a move mirrored by his Republican primary opponent, Ken McFeeters. When the Alabama Republican Party authorized McFeeters to proceed with an election challenge—granting the power to subpoena records and witnesses—Tuberville’s campaign finally released seven years of Alabama tax filings.

These documents suggest he established Alabama residency in August 2018 and has maintained it since. Because Florida lacks a state income tax, paying taxes in Alabama represented a clear financial choice in favor of his claimed home state.

The Florida Disconnect

Despite the tax filings, the paper trail in Florida tells a conflicting story. Election records confirm that Tuberville and his wife, Suzanne, cast votes in Florida in November 2018—well after the date he claimed to have settled in Alabama and even after filing for a homestead exemption on their Auburn residence.

When questioned by radio host Dale Jackson in 2019, Tuberville acknowledged voting in Florida that year, confirming he cast his ballot for the full Republican ticket. This history now serves as a major point of friction, especially given Tuberville’s current role as a vocal proponent of election security and the federal SAVE Act.

While he now advocates for strict voter ID laws and citizenship verification on the Senate floor, the record of his own 2018 participation remains a sticking point: he cast a vote in a state he claims he no longer called home.