January 4th , 2026 Len’s Political Note #779 Doug Jones Alabama Governor
2026 General Election
Doug Jones and me
Almost ten years ago, my wife and I went to Birmingham, Alabama for my sister’s grandson’s Bar Mitzvah. Like us, they are somewhere between Reform and not observant. Services were in the morning. The party was in the evening. There was a big break in the middle of the day,
Many out of towners went to the art museum. Others went to civil rights memorials. I made a pilgrimage. I would find and visit Doug Jones campaign headquarters. He was running for the United State Senate.
Doug Jones was a former US Attorney for the Northern District of Alabama who had made his reputation by successfully prosecuting two members of the Ku Klux Klan for the Birmingham bombing that killed four young Black girls. The Senate seat was open because President Donald Trump had chosen Alabama Senator Jeff Sessions to be his Attorney General. This campaign was to fill the two years remaining in Jeff Sessions term of office.
I had a map. If I had a cell phone with GPS, I would not have known how to use it. It took me forty-five minutes to find a dusty lot littered with odd buildings. Doug Jones for Senate Headquarters was red, single story, and looked like it may have had six rooms. A young man was locking up and leaving as I drove up.
I walked around the building, saw some movement, and knocked on a window. Doug Jones invited me in. He and his campaign manager were the only ones there.
We had a chat. The campaign manager took the picture of Doug Jones and me holding a bumper sticker. I went back to find the rest of the family. They went back to their campaign which, astonishingly, they won — because the Republican nominee had a young girl problem.
Doug Jones finished those two years, but lost the Senate seat to Tommy Tuberville by 20 points. The likelihood of Doug Jones running again seemed slim.
Doug Jones, however, is running for Governor of Alabama. Tommy Tuberville, perhaps bored with being a US Senator, had earlier announced he would run for Governor rather than for reelection. Now we have a rerun of the 2018 election, but for a different office and at a different time.
If Doug Jones is going to have a prayer of winning, he is going to have to remember that he was a prosecutor. He might even remind the voters of Alabama that his claim to fame was his success as a prosecutor.
Tommy Tuberville was already famous in Alabama when he ran for the US Senate, but not as a politician. He was a football coach.
If Doug Jones is going to defeat Tommy Tuberville, he will need to prosecute Tuberville for the “crime:” of being a bad football coach, for the :”crime” of endangering the country while being a Senator, and for the prospective “crime” of endangering the people of Alabama if he were to be elected governor.
Tommy Tuberville was hired to coach football at Auburn (a state landgrant university). He came from Ole Miss where, over four seasons, was slightly better than .500. He did better at Auburn. In particular, in 2004. His team went undefeated and won the national championship. He was declared coach of the year. He left Auburn in 2008 after a 5-7 season, the last game of which was a 36-0 loss to the University of Alabama. One writer described his leaving as an acknowledgement that he could not compete for players against the relatively new coach at the University of Alabama – Nick Saban.
Tommy Tuberville went to Texas Tech for four years and then to the University of Cincinnati. It turned out that his interests had become business and politics.
Former Lehman Brothers broker John David Stroud approached Tommy Tuberville after he left Auburn. They created TS Capital Management and TS Capital. Four years later, seven investors sued Tuberville and Stroud for defrauding them of $1.7 million. The law suit got people’s attention. Stroud was indicted. Tuberville was not. He said he was also a victim of fraud and had lost $450,000. Stroud pled guilty and received a 10 year prison sentence.
What should Doug Jones say about this to Alabama voters? How about: Do you want fraud victim Tommy Tuberville serving as governor and managing your money?
Not long after Stroud’s conviction, Tommy Tuberville set up the Tommy Tuberville Foundation. Over its initial five years of operation, the Foundation raised slightly less than $300,000 and spent slightly more than $50,000. The Associated Press called the Tommy Tuberville Foundation “a questionable charity that raises money but gives very little away.” The Foundation’s website no longer existed by 2022. In 2023, the Foundation’s activities were suspended and Tommy Tuberville promised reform.
What should Doug Jones say about this to Alabama voters? How about: Do you want Tommy Tuberville serving as governor and managing your money the way he managed his Foundation?
While in the Senate, Tommy Tuberville brought military promotions to a halt for nearly a whole year. To express his opposition to a policy that provided leave and reimbursement for travel costs to pregnant members of the military who had to leave their location to obtain a legal abortion after the overturn of Roe, Tommy Tuberville put a hold on all military promotions. The military’s inability to promote people to the role of general or admiral and to other positions which require Senate approval jeopardized the military’s capacity for “strategic readiness” and for “operational success” according to the Pentagon
Tommy Tuberville got nothing changed. He probably understood he would not get anything changed. His Senate colleagues were furious with him. Members of the military were just plain furious. Maybe this is why he is not interested in returning to the Senate.
What should Doug Jones say about this to Alabama voters? How about: Do you want Tommy Tuberville serving as governor and protecting the people of Alabama when he was willing to jeopardize the entire country’s safety for a year in order to make a point?
Recently, Tommy Tuberville gullibly believed a conflation of two false rumors, both of which he acted on by repeating publicly: that the shooter at Brown was a jihadist who stalked and was seeking to kill Ella Cook, Vice President of the Brown Republican club. It requires a particular level of gullibility to believe such a rumor when the other undergraduate who was killed was Mukhammad Aziz Umursokov, an Uzbekistani and a devout Muslim.
What should Doug Jones say about this to Alabama voters? How about: Do you want Tommy Tuberville serving as governor and protecting the people of Alabama when he is so gullible he will act on the first rumor he hears that conforms to his view of the world?
Doug Jones is a cautious man and a former prosecutor. He is not always cautious or he would not have run for the US Senate from Alabama or be running now for Governor of Alabama. But consider his prosecutorial advice at the time of the first impeachment of Donald Trump. He told his colleagues it was ”very unlikely there’s going to be an absolute smoking gun on either side.” He urged fellow Senators to observe what the House finds in its “fact-finding” role and wait before making a decision about Trump’s guilt.
Let’s hope Doug Jones and his campaign can help Alabamans understand why Tommy Tuberville has not business being the Governor of Alabama. DONATE to the Doug Jones campaign so it can do the job.
GOVERNORS – Below are Democratic candidates running for Governor where the race is close or is at least worth investing in.
NEIGHBORS
Georgia DONATE to Atlanta Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms running for an open Republican seat. See Len’s Political Note #777
SOUTHWEST
Arizona. DONATE to incumbent Katie Hobbs running for reelection. See Len’s Political Note #712,
Nevada. DONATE to Attorney General Aaron Ford running against a Republican incumbent. See Len’s Political Note #745
Texas. DONATE to State Rep Gina Hinojosa running against a Republican incumbent. See Len’s Political Note #778
MIDWEST
Iowa DONATE to State Auditor Rob Sand running for an open Republican seat. See Len’s Political Note #746
Kansas. DONATE to State Senator Ethan Corson running for an open Democratic seat. See Len’s Political Note #776
Michigan. DONATE to Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson running for an open Democratic seat. See Len’s Political Note #747
Ohio. DONATE to former State Health Director Amy Acton running for an open Republican seat. See Len’s Political Note #724
