Trump ally announces record-shattering fundraising haul in bid for Alabama governor

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Alabama Senator Tommy Tuberville announces gubernatorial bid for the Yellowhammer State

Republican Sen. Tommy Tuberville details his run for Alabama governor and his remaining tenure in Congress on ‘The Will Cain Show.’

Republican Sen. Tommy Tuberville is showcasing his fundraising prowess as he launches his bid for Alabama governor.

Tuberville's gubernatorial campaign on Thursday announced that it raked in $2,064,723 in fundraising during the first 24 hours after the senator declared his candidacy, "far surpassing its initial goal and shattering the previous Alabama record."

The senator, a strong supporter and ally of President Donald Trump, is considered the frontrunner in the 2026 race to succeed term-limited GOP Gov. Kay Ivey in the Republican-dominated state.

"There are two universal truths in the Yellowhammer state right now: Alabamians love President Trump and they want Coach Tuberville to be their next governor," Jackie Curtiss Cox, fundraiser for Tuberville's campaign, said. "I’ve never seen momentum like this in my more than 10 years in Alabama politics."

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Sen. Tommy Tuberville (R-AL), who on Tuesday announced a 2026 bid for Alabama governor, arrives for a Senate Republican Caucus luncheon at the Capitol in Washington, DC on Apr. 2, 2025. (Nathan Posner/Anadolu via Getty Images)

And Cox spotlighted that "these were not from PAC donations — every dollar came from small business owners, entrepreneurs, workers, and retirees."

This week's announcement from Tuberville, a former longtime college football coach who spent 10 years as head coach at Auburn University in Alabama, ended months of speculation about his ambitions to run for governor in his home state.

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Tuberville, launched a campaign website that touts his "conservative Alabama values."

(Tuberville Campaign)

And in his first interview after launching his campaign, Tuberville said on Fox News' "The Will Cain Show" that "I'm doing this to help this country and the great state of Alabama. I'm a football coach. I'm a leader. I'm a builder. I'm a recruiter, and we're going to grow Alabama."

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A source familiar told Fox News a couple of weeks ago that an endorsement from Trump would be a "done deal" if Tuberville decided to run for governor.

And Tuberville, in his Fox News interview, said Trump was "fully supportive" of his gubernatorial run.

Then-GOP Presidential nominee Donald Trump waves as he attends an Alabama Crimson Tide-Georgia Bulldogs college football game on Sept. 28, 2024, at the University of Alabama's Bryant-Denny Stadium. GOP Sen. Tommy Tuberville of Alabama is seen standing on the right. (John David Mercer-Imagn Images)

He is also backed by the politically influential and deep-pocketed Club for Growth, a fiscal conservative group that takes sides in GOP primaries.

Alabama Lt. Gov. Will Ainsworth, who had been expected to run to succeed Ivey, last week announced that he would not seek the office.

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Tuberville was first elected to the Senate in 2020, running as an outsider who was closely aligned with Trump.

In the Republican primary, he topped former Attorney General Jeff Sessions, a longtime senator from Alabama, before resigning in 2017 to serve as Trump's attorney general. Tuberville went on to defeat incumbent Sen. Doug Jones, who was the first Democrat elected to the Senate in Alabama in decades.

Tuberville's move to run for governor sets up an open Senate seat in Alabama in next year's midterm elections.