Lawsuit seeks to remove John Wahl from Alabama lieutenant governor ballot over residency

Republican John Wahl, who was endorsed earlier this year by President Donald Trump, does not meet the constitutional eligibility requirements to serve as Alabama’s lieutenant governor and should have his name removed from the ballot, a lawsuit filed Tuesday in Montgomery County Circuit Court claims.The filing, submitted by Montgomery attorney Bobby Segall on behalf of three citizens, two Republicans from Limestone County and one Montgomery resident, alleges that Wahl held a Tennessee driver’s license and voted in Tennessee within the past six years. The complaint also claims that Wahl’s current Alabama driver’s license carries an eight-digit number, a format Alabama did not begin issuing until Dec. 1, 2018.“He swore under oath that he was a residence of Tennessee during that seven-year period and during that time, he was supposed to be in Alabama,” Segall said. “Most honorable people don’t lie when they swear under oath. I am assuring that the guy didn’t swear falsely under oath.”The 10-page lawsuit argues that Wahl is ineligible to serve and therefore should be removed from the Nov. 3 general election ballot. The complaint asks a judge to consider the case immediately. Wahl’s legal team will have 10 days to respond.Wahl is running against Democratic state Rep. Phillip Ensler of Montgomery in the Nov. 3 election.In an ironic twist, the lawsuit names Alabama Secretary of State Wes Allen, who lost to Wahl in the June 16 Republican primary runoff, as a defendant. The suit asks the court to direct Allen, in his official capacity, to remove Wahl’s name from the ballot.“The placement of the name of Wahl, an ineligible candidate, upon the general election ballot would be contrary to law and would irreparably impair the rights of petition, voters and the public,” the lawsuit states.The three plaintiffs are Jarrod Wayne and Amanda Beth Schulte, both of Limestone County, and Valtoria Jackson of Montgomery. Segall said the complaint was filed as a writ of quo warranto, a legal action that allows private citizens to bring a lawsuit on behalf of the state, challenging a person’s right to hold public office.“They are people who feel that the law ought to be complied with,” Segall said.Wahl was not immediately available for comment Tuesday.State Rep. Phillip Ensler, D-Montgomery, and a candidate for lieutenant governor in November, speaks during a community meeting on Monday, July 27, 2026, at the Mt. Vernon Community Center in Mt. Vernon, Ala. The meeting was held to allow residents to voice concerns about an estimated $6 billion data center that will be built in unincorporated Calvert. The project is backed by Beacon Data Centers, and residents say they are alarmed over what is a lack of transparency and trust with a project that could be under construction later this year.John SharpEnsler, in a statement, said the lawsuit “raises serious doubts” about whether Wahl meets the constitutional requirements to serve.“No one is above the law,” Ensler said. “Everyone, including Wahl, should have to play by the same rules. Yet the evidence presented in this lawsuit suggests that Wahl thinks there’s one set of rules for him and another for everyone else. That is an insult to every law-abiding Alabamian.”He added, “Alabama voters deserve honest. If Wahl can’t be honest about where he lives, why should Alabamians trust him to serve?”The lawsuit comes as a separate challenge to U.S. Sen. Tommy Tuberville’s residency, which remains pending before the Alabama Supreme Court. Tuberville, like Wahl, is accused of failing to meet Alabama’s seven-year residency requirement for holding the office of governor. Tuberville is facing the Democratic challenger and former U.S. Sen. Doug Jones in the Nov. 3 election.Segall said he had hoped the Alabama Supreme Court would have already weighed in on the Tuberville case, which seeks to allow a lower court to hear arguments concerning Tuberville’s residency and eligibility. The plaintiffs challenging Tuberville’s residency also filed their cases as quo warranto actions.A Montgomery County circuit judge dismissed the Tuberville case in July for lack of jurisdiction, clearing the way for the residency dispute to advance to the state’s highest court.“I was trying to wait for the Supreme Court to rule because that would have influenced on what we allege in this complaint,” Segall said. “After the Supreme Court rules, I want to be in a position to try this case quickly. And the only way to do that is to get ahead and file (the lawsuit).”Residency questions have shadowed the campaigns for governor and lieutenant governor this year. Wahl and Tuberville both survived residency challenges before the Alabama Republican Party’s steering committee in January, though the committee’s vote in Wahl’s case was a narrow 10-9 decision in his favor.Section 117 of the Alabama Constitution requires that both the governor and lieutenant governor be “resident citizens” of the state for at least seven years before the election. Tuberville’s legal team has argued that by the time he is inaugurated in January, he will have accumulated eight consecutive years of Alabama residency.Segall argues in the lawsuit that Wahl has not maintained Alabama as his primary domicile for the seven-year period required by the Constitution.Last year, AL.comAL.com reported that Wahl had the Tennessee license and had also been registered to vote in that state while serving as the state party chair in Alabama.Bryan Taylor, Wahl’s attorney, has previously said that Wahl never lost his status as an Alabama “resident citizen” despite his ties to Tennessee.Taylor has said Wahl was born and raised in Alabama, voted in Alabama, and is permitted to maintain more than one residence. He has argued that establishing a residence in another state does not necessarily mean a person has abandoned residency in Alabama.Wahl qualified to enter the Republican primary for lieutenant governor just before the deadline on Jan. 23. Wahl did so after President Trump posted an endorsement for him on social media.Allen’s campaign helped fund a ballot challenge by former state Rep. Gil Isbell based on residency questions and Wahl’s eligibility. However, the Alabama Republican Party’s steering committee voted on Feb. 1 not to hold a hearing based on that challenge.