U.S. Sen. Tommy Tuberville, R-Ala., could be on the brink of making a decision with ramifications for two elected offices in Alabama.

Alabama’s senior senator said he is considering running for governor in 2026, with a final decision to come in May.

If Tuberville, who enjoys wide popularity in Alabama, pulls the trigger on a gubernatorial run, it could cause other candidates for governor to exit the race and lead to a mad dash for the Senate seat, which would become open for the second time since 2017.

While the Alabama governor’s race will be open in 2026 because of Gov. Kay Ivey is term limited, Tuberville will be seen as the overwhelming favorite.

One political pundit boldly predicted Tuberville could win a crowded Republican primary race for governor without a runoff.

“In a Republican primary, he could slaughter everybody else,” Alabama political consultant Jonathan Gray told AL.com in January. “There could be 10 people in the race and there wouldn’t be a runoff.”

Both the general election for Alabama governor and Tuberville’s Senate seat will be held on Nov. 3, 2026, meaning there won’t need to be a Senate special election — like in 2017, when then-Sen. Jeff Sessions was confirmed as President Donald Trump’s attorney general — if Tuberville runs for governor.

Before we get into five potential candidates, one caveat: the idea of an open Senate seat in Alabama in 2026 is fairly fresh, so the speculation has not ramped up as much as there has been for governor. We’ve always known Ivey could not run for a third term.

With that said, here’s five potential Republican candidates for Tuberville’s Senate seat, should it become open:

Steve Marshall

Marshall, the Alabama attorney general, was seen as a top contender to succeed Ivey before announcing on New Year’s Eve he was “definitely not running for governor.”

While he won’t be in the governor’s race, Marshall left open the possibility of running for another office.

Doug Jones

Tuberville’s predecessor in the Senate won the seat in 2017, when Sessions vacated the office to become Trump’s attorney general.

However, Jones beat former Alabama Chief Justice Roy Moore by 22,000 votes as Moore was dogged by by claims from several women who said they were sexually assaulted by him.

Jones lost to Tuberville 60% to 40% in 2020, a margin of around 470,000 votes.

Jones continues to be politically active, whether it’s criticizing Tuberville or President Donald Trump on social media or raising money for Democratic candidates across the country.

If he runs, Jones would be the frontrunner in the Democratic primary but would face an uphill battle against any Republican in the November general election.

Mo Brooks

The former congressman representing Huntsville ran for the Senate seat in the 2017 special election and in the 2022 Senate election, where he lost in the runoff to eventual winner Katie Britt.

Like Jones, Brooks has not stayed on the political sidelines since leaving office, calling out Trump for being “the most dishonest elected official that…the public has ever had to interact with.”

Twinkle Cavanaugh

Cavanaugh, president of the Alabama Public Service Commission, is the highest-ranking state officeholder after Ivey.

Cavanaugh would have higher name recognition among Alabama voters than other potential candidates who may not have run statewide before.

Jessica Taylor

The Prattville businesswoman and attorney has set her sights on elected office in Alabama before.

Taylor ran for Congress in the newly-drawn 2nd Congressional District,

She also ran for Senate in 2022, dropping out before the primary, and for the 2nd Congressional District in 2020, when the district encompassed the Montgomery area.