GULF SHORES — Doug Jones, the Democratic nominee for Alabama's governor in this November's general election, made a virtual appearance during a South Baldwin Democrats meeting on Tuesday, June 23.

Jones is facing Republican nominee Tommy Tuberville in the upcoming gubernatorial race, which will be held Nov 3. Alabama has long been a Republican stronghold, holding a PVI rating of R+15 according to the Cook Partisan Index, which indicates how many percentage points above the national average that party received, caculated based on the results of the previous two presidential elections.

Despite this, Jones expressed optimism about this year's slate of Democratic candidates.

During the primaries, 364,635 people cast a vote in the Democratic primary for governor, an increase of almost 200,000 compared to 2022, which saw 168,224 total votes. It also marks the first time since 2006 that a Democratic candidate is running in all seven statewide races: governor, lieutenant governor, secretary of state, commissioner of agriculture and industries, treasurer, auditor and attorney general.

"The thing that we keep reminding folks of when they say we can't win, now we've got these numbers to prove that we are on a roll and we are seeing the same increases that we saw in Georgia, in Tennessee, in Florida, in Virginia, in New Jersey," Jones said. "The same outperforming of other Democrats in the past is what is happening in Alabama, and that is going to bode well for all of the statewide races and our local races."

Jones took shots at Tuberville when a guest asked about the Republican nominee's controversy surrounding his residency, which is facing legal litigation. Some have argued he does not meet Alabama's seven-year residency requirement required by the Alabama Constitution for candidates running for governor and lieutenant governor.

"We'll see whether the courts follow the law and try to push this through a little bit," Jones said. "He's got some good lawyers. They will try every stalling tactic in the world, but rest assured guys, we believe it is a political issue, not just a legal issue. We've always believed it was a political issue, not just simply because he lives in Florida and the Constitution doesn't allow that. I think it's a political issue as much as anything because he's just not telling the truth to the people of Alabama and we've got so many other things where he's just not telling the truth to the people of Alabama."

After the Alabama Republican Party announced Tuberville was eligible following a closed-door hearing, a lawsuit was filed in the Montgomery County Circuit Court challenging his residency. Tuberville has filed a motion to dismiss the lawsuit, arguing the court does not have jurisdiction to weigh in on his candidacy because that power belongs to the ALGOP.

Besides Jones, other Democratic candidates attended and spoke during Tuesday night's meeting, including Alabama First Congressional District candidate Clyde Jones, state senate District 22 candidate Ashley Sharpe and state senate District 32 candidate Janet Appleby.

Pam Skaggs, chair of the South Baldwin Democrats, said their goal for this election season is to mobilize voters and to get people to the polls.

"We're going to call people, we're going to phone bank, we're going to write postcards, and we are going to knock on doors over and over and over again," Skaggs said. "We're just going to keep going and get as many people to the polls as we can."