Former Sen. Doug Jones, the only Democrat to win statewide office in Alabama in years, is now looking to mount another upset.Jones previously defeated scandal-plagued Republican Roy Moore in a stunning shake-up in 2017, and served in the Senate for three years before he was unseated by current Sen. Tommy Tuberville (R-Ala.).On Monday, Jones announced that he was launching another longshot bid, this time for the state’s gubernatorial seat. “We’re going to do everything we can to bring the people back to the state capital of Montgomery, Alabama,” Jones said in a video announcement on X.Former Sen. Doug Jones' (D) bid for governor faces an uphill battle due to Alabama’s conservative electorateAlex Wong via Getty ImagesJones’s campaign for governor will once again pit him against Tuberville, a former Auburn University football coach and Trump loyalist who declared his candidacy for the governor’s office earlier this year. Jones faces an uphill battle due to Alabama’s conservative electorate. Tuberville won by roughly 20 points during the 2020 Senate election, and Trump won the state by about 30 points in 2024. Jones will also have to beat a handful of other candidates in a Democratic primary in the spring. Before his time in the Senate, Jones served as a U.S. Attorney and was known for prosecuting two Ku Klux Klan members for their role in the 1963 bombing of the 16th Street Baptist Church in Birmingham. As a senator, he didn’t shy away from confronting Trump, even voting to convict the president in his 2020 impeachment trial.“Last time Doug Jones ran against Coach Tuberville, it didn’t go well for Doug,” Tuberville spokesperson Mallory Jaspers wrote on X. “Coach has spent the past six months building coalitions across the state, securing endorsements from every key player in Alabama politics, and shattering fundraising records. This race is already over — but if Comrade Doug wants to get blown out again, be our guest.”Jones signaled he was prepared to go on the offensive against Tuberville, who’s already faced questions over his residency in the state due to a beach house he owns in Florida.“What we have heard all along is that Alabama wants their next governor to be someone who lives here, who works here, who listens to the people of this state, who understands the people of this state,” Jones said in his video. “And Alabama wants their next governor to be someone who treats this state with grace and dignity and not just like a rest stop on the way to the Florida beach.” Close