Tuberville Defeats Sessions in Senate Primary Runoff
The Associated Press called the Alabama Senate Primary Runoff Election and as of 8:16 PM, Tommy Tuberville has defeated Jeff Sessions for the Republican seat.
Tuberville entered the Senate race in October 2019 as his first major venture into a career in politics.
A Camden, Arkansas native, Tuberville's collegiate football coaching career kicked off at the University of Mississippi in 1994, where he earned the title of SEC Coach of the Year in 1997. His life in Alabama began when he moved to the Yellowhammer State after Ole Miss' 1998 football season to coach at Auburn University.
Tuberville made a name for Auburn football during his nine-year tenure there, as he led the Tigers to an SEC Championship. Auburn won five of their eight consecutive bowl appearances under Tuberville. Most notably, he was the recipient of Coach of the Year awards from the Associated Press, the American Football Coaches Association, the National Sportscasters and Sportswriters Association and the Walter Camp Football Foundation after the Tigers beat Viriginia Tech in the 2004 Sugar Bowl.
Tuberville eventually left Auburn in 2010 to take a head coaching job at Texas Tech University. He led the Red Raiders to a bowl game that year, but left Lubbock, Texas for Ohio in 2012 to coach at the University of Cincinnati. There, he spent four years as the Bearcats' head coach and accumulated 29-22 record, plus an 18-14 record for AAC conference play.
His bid for the U.S. Senate is Tuberville's first stab at the politics game. He ran a rigorous pro-Trump campaign, which granted him a nomination from the 45th president. Sean Spicer, the 28th White House Press Secretary, is a member of his campaign staff.
Tuberville will go on to compete against Democratic incumbent Doug Jones on Nov. 3, 2020. We will have all the coverage right here as Election Day draws closer, so stay tuned.