As early as last Thanksgiving, there were smoke signals coming out of Washington that our popular Senior Senator, Tommy Tuberville, was going to forgo an easy re-election jaunt to a second, six-year term in the United States Senate, to run for Governor of Alabama in 2026. The coveted Governor’s office was going to be open because Governor Kay Ivey could not run for another term. Kay will have served as Governor longer than anyone in state history, other than George Wallace, when her decade long tenure ends in January of 2027.

The rumors became more rampant around Christmas and New Years, and those closest to him would confirm that Coach was adamantly going to run for governor. Some doubted that Coach would leave the Senate when Trump became President in January, because the tide had turned in Washington and Tuberville was finally on the right team. Instead of being in the minority party in the Senate and having a Democrat in the White House, Trump won the presidency overwhelmingly, and his coattails swept the Republicans into the majority in the U.S. Senate.