Doug Jones stood before the Rotary Club of Birmingham Wednesday and promised that expanding Medicaid would be his top priority if Alabamians elect him governor, pointing to rural hospital closures and a high infant mortality rate as evidence the state can't wait any longer. The former U.S. senator and Democratic gubernatorial candidate framed his pitch around three opportunities he said every Alabamian deserves: a healthy life, a voice in government and a shot at economic prosperity.
Jones told the Rotary crowd that Alabama has succeeded in luring business and federal projects to the state but still lags behind on measures of poverty, education and health, according to WBHM. He cited studies suggesting Alabama could actually come out ahead financially by expanding Medicaid, rather than losing money, a claim that aligns with a Public Affairs Research Council of Alabama analysis estimating the state could realize net savings from expansion. A separate PARCA estimate found expansion could generate an average of 20,083 new jobs per year and produce an $11.36 billion positive economic impact over six years, per the group's research posted at parcalabama.org.
Jones's campaign says expansion would extend coverage to more than 154,000 working Alabamians, according to his campaign website, dougjones.com. He's also called for expanding Medicaid specifically to shore up rural areas where hospitals have closed or are at risk of closing, a point he raised earlier this month at a Huntsville rally covered by WAFF.
Prison Spending Draws Sharp Criticism
Jones didn't limit his critique to health care. He told Rotarians that Alabama spent $2 billion building two prisons that still aren't functioning, per the WBHM report, framing it as a symbol of misplaced state priorities. The Legislature approved a $1.3 billion prison construction plan during a 2021 special session, and the Elmore County facility's price tag has since climbed to a reported $1.25 billion, according to AL.com.
That outlet reported the prison missed an October 15 completion deadline and remains more than 85 percent complete, with the finish date reportedly now pushed to sometime between March and May 2027, according to Yellowhammer News. State Sen. Chris Elliott told AL.com that the state rushed into construction before plans were finished, then kept changing them as work was underway. Jones has proposed an independent review of the Department of Corrections and said he'd consider pausing construction on another planned mega prison, according to an interview with WVTM13.
Tax Cuts, Child Care and the CHOOSE Act
On the economic side, Jones backed fully eliminating Alabama's state sales tax on groceries and exempting tips and overtime pay from state income tax, per the WBHM account of his speech. He also proposed creating a state earned income tax credit, expanding child-care tax credits and increasing apprenticeships, alongside free community college for adults without existing credentials — a package also outlined in the Montgomery Advertiser's rundown of the race.
Jones also took aim at the CHOOSE Act, the program that allows state funds to go toward private-school tuition or homeschool expenses. He said he'd phase it out so that money returns to public schools, while leaving the law's homeschooling provisions untouched, according to WBHM's account of the speech. He separately called for a one-year moratorium on new hyperscale data center construction, giving the state time to develop rules on power, water, noise and tax incentives, a position detailed in his WVTM13 interview and echoed in the Montgomery Advertiser's reporting.
Tuberville Rematch Looms With Polling Gap
Jones's Republican opponent is U.S. Sen. Tommy Tuberville, who beat Jones in their 2020 Senate race by taking 61 percent of the vote, according to AL.com. Tuberville has said law and order would be a top priority if he's elected governor and that he's 100 percent for data centers, while leaving the decision on whether to allow them up to local communities, per a separate WBHM report. Tuberville has also said the state cannot afford to expand Medicaid, and that he's neither for nor against a state lottery, saying voters should get a chance to decide the issue themselves.
A Cygnal poll of 500 likely voters conducted October 16-17 found Tuberville leading Jones 51.2 percent to 40 percent, with 8.9 percent undecided and a margin of error of plus or minus 4.38 percentage points, according to the Montgomery Advertiser. Some polling has shown the race closer than their 2020 matchup, AL.com has reported, though Tuberville's lead in the Cygnal survey remains sizable with Election Day set for November 3, when Alabamians will also choose U.S. representatives, a U.S. senator and local officials.
Jones Pushes Back on Tuberville Rhetoric
During the Rotary speech, Jones said state leaders and Tuberville have not held town halls in years, contrasting that with the town halls he said he held across Alabama over the summer and fall, according to WBHM. He voiced support for a citizen-led ballot initiative process, giving cities and counties more control, and a lottery to fund education, Medicaid or other programs. He also promoted a constitutional amendment protecting in vitro fertilization and argued Alabama's ethics laws are too weak, saying lawmakers should have to disclose conflicts of interest when trading stocks.
Jones said he expects Tuberville to call him a communist and a Marxist, and he criticized Tuberville for suggesting that people moving to fast-growing north Alabama came from schools that taught socialism and communism. Newcomers to the state should be thanked, not treated as suspected communists, Jones said, adding that a governor serves as the state's chief recruiter. He also suggested Tuberville's Senate-floor remarks about airline pilots dressing as animals could color how business leaders view him.
Jones held up a campaign mailer from ProgressPAC, the political wing of the Business Council of Alabama, which he said depicted him with Soviet imagery, a burning building and a crowd holding signs — and which carried a disclaimer stating the media was manipulated and depicted speech or conduct that did not occur, per WBHM's reporting. The Business Council of Alabama did not reply to a request for comment, the outlet reported. Jones closed by telling the Rotary crowd that Alabama deserves a governor who builds bridges rather than burns them.
