Tommy Tuberville

Alabama Sen. Tommy Tuberville expressed doubts about the state’s current efforts to redraw congressional and Senate voting maps in an election year.

“I’m not so sure it’s going to go through,” he told media Tuesday after voting in Auburn. He is running for governor.

“I haven’t looked at it that much. It’s all back in the courts and we’ll let them handle it the way they see fit,” he said. “They’re like the referees at the football game. They’re the ones who are supposed to keep it fair.”

Alabama is trying to change congressional districts during an election year and potentially flip at least one House seat back to Republicans. State officials have repeatedly complained about judges’ decisions that set the state’s current congressional map in place.

Tuberville is the frontrunner in Tuesday, May 19 primaries for the Republican nomination. Polls close at 7 p.m.

AL.COM VOTER GUIDE: See candidates, election information.

He misspoke about Tuesday’s vote and said “there will not be congressional votes today on those seven seats” in the U.S. House.

Alabama officials have said that votes for four House seats affected by redistricting will be counted but not certified. The other three elections will proceed and be certified as normal. All other races on Tuesday ballots in Alabama will proceed as normal.

Alabama voters will come back to a special election in August for U.S. House Districts 1, 2, 6 and 7. Districts 2 and 7 are currently held by Democrats, Rep. Shomari Figures and Rep. Terri Sewell.

Tuberville correctly noted the confusion around redistricting and the potential that federal judges will order the state to a different outcome.

“There’s so many ifs ands or buts, but I am making sure everyone is represented in this state,” he said.

A full video of the exchange was posted by Rightside Broadcasting.

Tuberville’s campaign did not immediately respond to a request for comment Tuesday afternoon.

Former Sen. Doug Jones, who is running for the Democratic nomination, said if he becomes governor he will support an independent redistricting commission.

“I am going to be an advocate for making sure our congressional delegation represents Alabama,” he told AL.com Tuesday. “That means making sure there are two congressional districts where Black voters have the opportunity to elect a Black Alabamian.”

Tuberville previously weighed in on redistricting efforts on social media, saying Republicans should be able to draw lines that favor them if they are in charge. He also said he plans to “represent everybody” if elected, not just people who vote for him.

Tuberville said if elected governor, he’ll recruit jobs to the state like he recruited football players to Auburn University.

“It’s going to be SEC recruiting all over again,” he said Tuesday. “I’ll be recruiting against Georgia, Florida, Tennesee, Mississippi, Louisiana for manufacturing to come back to the state.”

“My goal is to make us national champions of the United States of America when it comes to the 50 states.”

President Donald Trump posted in support of Tuberville Monday, calling him “a Lifelong Leader, both on and off the field — A true WINNER!"

Tuberville said he’s interested in supporting Trump’s proposed military budget and is hopeful that money will turn into continued investments in Alabama.

He also noted goals to support cities across the state, including Birmingham, which he said has been ”let go to the point where people say, ‘I don’t want to live there.’”

While in Congress, he has served on the Senate Armed Services Committee and the Senate Health, Labor, Education and Pensions Committee, among others.

One of his most well-known moves in Washington was a 10-month block of military promotions in protest of the Department of Defense’s policy of paying for military members who needed to travel to get abortions. The policy was changed by Trump’s new administration.

But an eventual victory in November, treated by many as a foregone conclusion in deep-red Alabama, may not necessarily be easy.

Tuberville faces a challenge in court about whether he meets the state’s seven-year residency requirement.

Ken McFeeters, who ran against him in the primary, claims that Tuberville has not really lived in Auburn, which he lists as his home address, for the full seven years.

Tuberville’s campaign has said the claims are inaccurate.

“Coach Tuberville has lived in Auburn since 2019,” his campaign told AL.com in March, when the lawsuit was filed. When he isn’t representing Alabama in the U.S. Senate, he’s back home in Auburn with his wife Suzanne.”