Second GOP Candidate’s Residency Challenged
The deadline to file a challenge to the candidacy of politicians running in the May 19th party primaries is 5:00 this afternoon. But already two major ones have been filed, both in the Republican Party.
First, Hoover insurance executive Ken McFeeters filed his challenge to the residency declared by his opponent for their party's gubernatorial nomination, Tommy Tuberville. Yesterday, Gadsden State Rep. Gill Isbell challenged fellow Lt. Gov. candidate John Wahl's claimed Alabama occupancy.
As Tuscaloosa Thread earlier reported, McFeeters questions whether Tuberville legally lives in Alabama or Florida. A question the Tuberville campaign has called "ridiculous".
Yesterday's newest GOP challenge by Isbell is based on claims that Wahl retained a legal Tennessee driver license as recent as 2023. That would make him a resident of the Volunteer State because a license holder must declare their legal place of residence to obtain a license in that state.
The Tennessee license came to light when Wahl was stopped for a traffic violation in Alabama's Morgan County and showed the officer the Tennessee license.
His explanation was that he obtained the Tennessee license because he had planned to move there but later changed his mind. He claims Limestone County as his residency, where he owns a butterfly farm.
The Tennessee Secretary of State's office confirmed to Alabama Daily News that Wahl registered to vote in that state in 2020 but never cast a ballot. That date would place the former Alabama Republican Party Chair outside the seven-year state residency requirement to be a Governor or Lt. Governor candidate in Alabama.
In his complaint, Isbell stated, "“Mr. Wahl could not have continuously resided in Alabama from November 3, 2019, until November 3, 2026, if he was a Tennessee resident in 2020, when he obtained a Tennessee driver license, and presumably until April 11, 2023, when he received a speeding ticket and presented his Tennessee driver license.”
Both challenges will now go to the Alabama Republican Party Executive Committee which will examine evidence and determine if a hearing is needed in either case.
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