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Alabama Senator Tommy Tuberville no longer owns property in the state he represents, report says

Property records show that the senator has owned a home in Santa Rosa Beach, Florida, for two decades

Kelly Rissman
Friday 11 August 2023 17:20 BST
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Alabama Republican SenatorTommy Tuberville no longer possesses any property in the state he represents, according to a report.

The Washington Post reported that the lawmaker has sold the last of his properties in Alabama – Tiger Farms LLC, which sits in Macon and Tallapoosa counties just outside of Auburn – for just over $1m.

Property records show that he has owned a $3m home in Santa Rosa Beach, Florida, for around 20 years.

He also owns a condo in Washington that he and his wife purchased for $750,000 in 2021.

The former Auburn University head coach recently sold one Florida condo for $850,000 and bought another for $825,000, the Post reported.

Steve Stafford, Mr Tuberville’s communications director, told The Independent: “Coach lives in Auburn. He’s had a vacation home in the Panhandle for two decades. I’m sure a lot of Senators have vacation homes.”

He told the Post that he bought the Santa Rosa Beach property “while he was coaching at Auburn. He goes there upon occasion if he has a free weekend. It is within driving distance of Auburn.”

Mr Stafford said that the senator purchased his current Auburn residence for his son when his son was a student at Auburn: “After his son graduated, he moved out. After Coach retired from coaching, Coach moved into the Auburn house.”

Despite this claim, the Tubervilles actually bought the house nine months after his son Tucker graduated from Auburn University in 2016, according to his LinkedIn profile. When Mr Tuberville served as the head coach of University of Cincinnati’s football team from 2013 through 2016, Tucker then worked for his father at the school from May through December 2016 after he graduated.

Tuberville’s other son, Troy, did not start at Auburn until 2018 and graduated in 2021.

Alabama Senator Tommy Tuberville no longer owns property in the state, according to a report
Alabama Senator Tommy Tuberville no longer owns property in the state, according to a report (Getty Images)

After being presented with these details, Mr Tuberville’s communications director backtracked and told the Post that the house was purchased after Tucker graduated from college: “His son lived at the Auburn house briefly and then Coach moved there afterward.”

“The Auburn property is his primary residence — although his job requires him to be in Washington four days a week when the Senate is in session,” the communications director added.

Under the US constitution, a senator must live in the state they are elected to serve.

“No Person shall be a Senator…who shall not, when elected, be an Inhabitant of that State for which he shall be chosen,” it states.

Mr Tuberville isn’t the only member of Congress to face questions around their residency.

Arizona Democratic Rep Ruben Gallego was under fire earlier this year after Politico exposed that he claimed both his DC property and his Arizona property as his primary residence.

Similarly, Rep Ryan Zinke, the former Trump administration interior secretary, fell under scrutiny when he ran for congress in Montana in 2022 and his wife put her primary residence as California.

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