Former U.S. Sen. Doug Jones has announced he is running in the 2026 governor’s race.

Jones, who is running as a Democrat, filed his paperwork with Alabama’s Secretary of State’s office last Monday, before posting a campaign announcement video on social media.

“Folks in Alabama deserve a governor who is going to fight for them,” Jones said in his announcement. “What we’ve heard all along is that Alabama wants their next governor to be someone who lives here, who works here, who listens to the people of this state; who understands the people of this state.”

Jones was rumored to be running leading up to last week’s announcement, with Jones himself hinting at a campaign during a town hall event hosted by U.S. Rep. Terri Sewell, D-Birmingham, earlier this month. Alabama Political Reporter was the first to confirm Jones’s candidacy on the Sunday before his campaign paperwork was filed. 

Jones’s run sets him up for a possible rematch with current U.S. Sen. Tommy Tuberville, R-AL, who is also running for governor as a Republican. Jones, who served as a senator for Alabama from 2018 until 2021, was defeated by Tuberville for the Senate seat in 2020. Jones lost to Tuberville by more than 379,000 votes in that election. 

Money is one significant obstacle Jones could face in a campaign against Tuberville. Tuberville has already raised a substantial $7.7 million war chest from campaign contributions since he announced his candidacy in May. Tuberville raised more than $1 million in October alone, and has outpaced current Alabama Gov. Kay Ivey’s fundraising total at the same point in her 2022 campaign by nearly $5 million.

However, Jones has a long political history in the state. Prior to serving as senator, Jones served as a U.S. attorney, and during his tenure he was able to secure murder convictions for Thomas Edwin Blanton Jr. in 2001 and Bobby Frank Cherry in 2002 for the 1963 16th Street Baptist Church bombing.

Jones was the last Democrat elected to statewide office in 2017, when he won a Senate seat over former Alabama chief justice and Republican nominee Roy Moore, who faced accusations of sexual misconduct during his campaign.

There are two other Democrats running for governor: Will Boyd and Chad “Chig” Martin. Jones will face off against Boyd and Martin in the primary elections on May 19, 2026, ahead of the gubernatorial election on Nov. 3, 2026.

Alabama top stories in brief

Water system failure left Perry County city without water for days

• A water failure left roughly 3,000 residents of Marion, in Perry County, without water from Nov. 20 until last Monday, Nov. 24.
• Perry County Emergency Management Agency Director DeAndrae Kimbrough said the issue was caused by a power outage and a pump failure.
• State Sen. Robert Stewart, D-Selma, linked the Marion outage to larger issues with access to sanitary water and sewer systems in the area, saying, “This could happen anywhere in the Black Belt.”
• After water service was restored to the city, a boil water notice stayed in effect for 24 hours.

Alabama Power says it will freeze rates for two years

• Alabama Power has said it will keep its electricity rates stable through 2027, according to a filing from the Alabama Public Service Commission. 
• “The filing outlines commitments aimed at providing more certainty and predictability around electric rates at a time when many other costs are rising,” a statement from Alabama Power said.
• The company said the decision stemmed from conversations between the Public Service Commission and the Alabama Attorney General’s Office.
• The proposal to keep rates stable will be considered by the commission at their Dec. 2 meeting.

Pre-filed bill seeks to ease voting rights restoration for formerly incarcerated

• A bill pre-filed last week by state Sen. Linda Coleman-Madison, D-Birmingham, will seek to streamline the process of restoring voting rights for some formerly incarcerated Alabamians.
• The bill, SB24, would require the Board of Pardons and Paroles to inform formerly incarcerated people who lost their right to vote while incarcerated how they can register to vote. Under current state law, some of those convicted of felonies can regain their right to vote after serving a prison sentence and paying any related fines from their conviction, but the Board of Pardons and Paroles is not required to provide any information on how to re-register.
• “The concept that restoring voting rights overall, whether that’s administrative or legislation, that directly gets at restoring the right and changing eligibility, ultimately strengthens families and communities,” Jerome Dees, Alabama policy director for the Southern Poverty Law Center, told Alabama Reflector.
• Coleman-Madison sponsored a similar bill during the 2025 legislative session. The bill was approved by the Senate, but was not considered in the House.

UAB football player charged in stabbing of teammates

• University of Alabama at Birmingham football player Daniel Mincey has been charged with attempted murder and assault in relation to the stabbing of two teammates ahead of a UAB home game on Nov. 22.
• Mincey, a 20-year-old offensive lineman for the Blazers, is accused of stabbing two teammates, defensive linemen Joshua Underwood and JaSire Peterson, with a knife at the Football Operations Building on campus ahead of a game against South Florida.
• Court documents did not describe what led up to the alleged assault.
• Both Underwood and Peterson were injured, but have since been released from the hospital and are recovering.

$17.5 million initiative seeks to restore Black Belt prairie

• A new initiative from the Alabama Soil and Water Conservation Committee, in partnership with the Alabama Wildlife Federation and the National Resources Conservation Service, is providing grant money to Black Belt area landowners to restore native prairie habitat on their property. 
• $17.5 million in grant funding is available from the Alabama Soil and Water Conservation Committee, with help from the state Legislature. Landowners will be able to apply for grant funding starting in March for projects that will allow native prairie plants to flourish. If they receive the grant, landowners will be able to be reimbursed up to 85% of their costs for maintaining their projects.
• More than 90% of the Southeast’s grassland habitats have disappeared since European settlement, according to the Southeastern Grasslands Institute. This means there has been a loss of habitat for native flora, including purple cone flowers and black-eyed susans, as well as many species of birds — prairie bird species are declining at a faster rate than any other group of bird species, according to Alabama Audubon.
• This program aims to restore 8,000 acres of prairie habitat.

Announcements

• We are now publishing a weekly podcast to go with each edition of the Alabama Roundup. The podcast will feature the same stories as the Roundup, and will be slightly adapted for listening. You can listen to the podcast on Spotify here. 

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