Sen. Tommy Tuberville (R-Ala.) announced on May 28, 2025, that he will run for governor of Alabama in 2026 rather than another term in the U.S. Senate.

The seat is open since incumbent Gov. Kay Ivey (R) is term-limited. As of May 28, 2025, independent race forecasters The Cook Political Report and Inside Elections have rated the general election for the seat as Solid Republican. Sabato’s Crystal Ball rated it Safe Republican.

On his campaign, Tuberville said, “As your next governor, I’ll fight for President [Donald] Trump’s America first agenda, stop illegal immigration dead in its tracks, and protect our conservative values.”

In the 2020 Republican primary runoff for the Senate seat, Tuberville defeated Jeff Sessions (R) 61% to 39%. Sessions had previously served in the seat until Trump selected him to serve as attorney general in his first administration.

Tuberville then defeated incumbent Sen. Doug Jones (D-Ala.) in the general election, 60% to 40%. Jones was previously elected in a 2017 special election after defeating Roy Moore (R) 50% to 48%. Tuberville was one of five challengers to defeat an incumbent senator in that year’s general elections. He was also the only Republican to defeat an incumbent Democratic senator.

As of May 28, 2025, The Cook Political Report and Inside Elections have rated the 2026 general election for the seat as Solid Republican. Sabato’s Crystal Ball rated it Safe Republican.

As of May 28, 2025, 19 members of the U.S. Congress—six senators and 13 representatives—have announced they will not seek re-election to their current seats in 2026.

Of the senators not running for re-election, five—Dick Durbin (D-Ill.), Jeanne Shaheen (D-N.H.), Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.), Tina Smith (D-Minn.), and Gary Peters (D-Mich.)—announced their retirements from public office. 

So far, Tuberville is the only senator to announce that he is running for another office in 2026. Sen. Michael Bennet (D-Colo.) also announced that he is running for governor of Colorado in 2026. However, his seat in the Senate is not up for election until 2028.

Compared to the last four election cycles, there were four retirement announcements at this point in 2024, five in 2022, four in 2020, and none in 2018.

From January 2011 to now, Ballotpedia has followed 366 announcements from Senate and House members who announced they would not seek re-election. January had seen the highest number of announcements of any month, at 69. The fewest announcements—12—happened in June.