[The Epoch Times, December 04, 2025](Reported by English Epoch Times reporter Chase Smith/Compiled by Su Huai) Former Democratic U.S. Senator Doug Jones recently announced that he will run for governor of Alabama in 2026, bringing a high-profile candidate to the Democratic Party in Alabama, which has failed to win a statewide election for many years, and paving the way for a possible “rematch” with Republican Senator Tommy Tuberville.
The two last faced off in the 2020 U.S. Senate race, when Tuberville defeated Jones by about 20 percentage points.
Jones announced the decision in a video posted online, calling it “Alabama’s worst-kept secret.”
He said: “I am running for governor of Alabama. Louise (wife) and I have been listening to you over the past few weeks and months. We hear your opinions and are very grateful for the encouragement. It is because of you that we decided to do this.”
Jones said he is running because “the people of Alabama, you deserve a governor who fights for you.” He said the campaign will focus on listening to voters across the state.
“Throughout this campaign, we will travel across the state and listen to people everywhere. We will do everything we can to bring people back to Montgomery, and as your governor, I will do that.”
Jones said the video is just the beginning and a formal campaign kickoff will take place after Thanksgiving.
Party primaries are scheduled for May next year, followed by a general election in November 2026.
A spokeswoman for Tuberville’s campaign said the 2020 Senate race has shown Alabama voters rejected Jones and called the governor’s race more favorable to Republicans. Kevin Donohoe of the Democratic Governors Association said Democratic victories in conservative-leaning states such as Kentucky show that as voters increasingly focus on health care, education and employment issues, Democrats may also make the race more comparable in Alabama.
In last year’s NTD “Profiles of Service” feature, Jones reflected on his early career experiences. He said his first job out of law school, working for an Alabama U.S. senator, made him “fall in love with the Senate” and its history.
He later served as U.S. attorney, where he reopened and advanced the investigation into the 1963 bombing of Birmingham’s 16th Street Baptist Church that killed four girls. “We successfully prosecuted those people,” he said, adding that the case “changes everything about you as a lawyer and changes everything about you as a person.”
In that interview, Jones said he values cross-party collaboration, noting that he served as a primary sponsor on some 26 bills that became law. He highlighted efforts to increase funding for historically black colleges and universities (HBCUs), address civil rights cold cases, and repeal the so-called military widow tax, which adds about $1,000 a month to the income of many retirees and widows. He also mentioned launching the tradition of reading Martin Luther King’s “Letter from a Birmingham Jail” on the Senate floor with members of both parties.
Jones said public office was “public service,” not “self-aggrandizement,” and urged people to “get into politics because you want to serve others, not for yourself.” He called on voters to stay engaged and “vote like your life depends on it… your future depends on it, because it does.”
Tuberville announced his candidacy for governor in May this year and stated that he would not seek re-election as a federal senator in 2026.
“I will be the next governor of the great state of Alabama,” Tuberville said. He promised to “grow Alabama” and described himself as a football coach, leader, builder and recruiter. He said he would continue to serve in the Senate during the campaign and pledged to “work with President Trump… because he fully supports me.”
Tuberville’s “Alabama First” platform lays out the standard conservative agenda, including positions on “trans issues,” taxes, trade tariffs, border security, school choice and the Second Amendment.
He also emphasized the need to retain college graduates into the state’s labor market, saying: “We will do everything possible to ensure that our children stay in the state and work after they graduate from this great Yellowhammer State.”
Alabama voters are considered one of the most conservative in the country, with the Cook Political Report giving the state a partisan voting index of “R+15,” and no Democrats currently hold statewide office.
Editor in charge: Shang Ming
