MONTGOMERY, Alabama. — A judge on Thursday dismissed a lawsuit alleging that U.S. Sen. Tommy Tuberville does not meet the residency requirement to run for governor of Alabama.

Montgomery County Circuit Judge Brooke Reid dismissed the case on jurisdictional grounds after determining she did not have the authority to decide the eligibility of a party’s candidate before the general election. Reid, a Democrat, wrote that she had “struggled” with the decision, but that there is no legal precedent that directly addresses the dispute.

Tuberville, who has represented Alabama in the Senate since 2021, is the Republican candidate for governor. The lawsuit argued that Tuberville does not meet the seven-year residency requirement established by the Alabama Constitution to be governor of Alabama.

Joe Espy, an attorney representing Tuberville, praised the decision.

Jordan Doufexis, Tuberville’s campaign chairman, called the residency allegation a “false lawsuit” pushed by allies of Democratic gubernatorial candidate Doug Jones. Jones is running against Tuberville in a rematch of sorts from their 2020 Senate race in which Tuberville defeated Jones.

“The Doug Jones residency scam was just fired for a loss when a Democratic judge in Montgomery dismissed another desperate lawsuit from ‘DC Doug’ Democratic representatives,” Doufexis said in a statement. He noted that the decision came from a Democratic judge, “who followed the law and rejected a bogus lawsuit aimed at hijacking the election before Alabama voters could decide.”

Barry Ragsdale, a lawyer representing the two voters who filed the lawsuit, said he plans to appeal the decision.

“Everyone who has seen credible evidence knows that Tuberville really lives in a $5 million gated mansion on the beach in Florida and not in that little house behind a shopping center in Auburn,” Ragsdale said. “We are confident that if we are given a fair opportunity to present that evidence in court, we could easily establish that Tuberville is lying about where he lives and is ineligible to serve as governor.”

Property tax records show Tuberville and his wife own a beach house in Florida valued at $5.6 million. His campaign said Tuberville resides in a home in Auburn, a 1,551-square-foot property with an assessed value of about $291,780. The Auburn home was initially purchased by his wife and son. The senator’s name was later added to the property in 2024 and the son’s name was removed.

Tuberville was head football coach at Auburn University from 1999 to 2008. He then coached at Texas Tech and the University of Cincinnati. He went to work for ESPN after retiring from coaching. In a 2017 promotional video for ESPN, he talked about moving to Florida after retiring from coaching. Tuberville said he has since returned to Alabama.

The Alabama Republican Party rejected a similar challenge to Tuberville’s eligibility in June. Party officials cited Tuberville’s property, tax and voting records to reject the allegation. Voting records show Tuberville last voted in Florida in November 2018. He registered to vote in Alabama on March 28, 2019, about two weeks before announcing his Senate candidacy.