Tuberville On Alabama Lottery: It’s Up To The People

If you live in Alabama and hope to play the lottery one day, a current U.S. senator, former Auburn football coach, and near mortal lock to become the state’s next governor has something of interest to say.

That is — and we’re paraphrasing here — “we’ll see.”

“It’s going to be up to the people,” Tommy Tuberville said last week on Huntsville WVNN’s The Dale Jackson Show, days after he announced his candidacy for governor, with the election coming in November 2026. “The legislature has got to do it first, no matter what it is. And then, of course, the … Alabama people and the referendum will have to vote on this. Now, I’m not going to allow people to come in that run these lottery associations.”

Meaning: If the lottery comes to Alabama, the money is staying in Alabama.

“Like you just said, the money goes to the people that run the lottery systems,” he continued. “As I’ve been in D.C., I’ve sat down for hours with governors that are now senators and talked to them [about the] good and bad and different. … And that’s one of the things they say: ‘If your people want to pass the lottery, just make sure that the money goes to the state and not to the people running the lottery system.'”

Not a slam dunk

Alabama legislators have not had an easy ride when it comes to getting lottery legislation passed.

In 2024, it failed by a single vote in the Senate. An effort in last year’s legislative session failed to even bring a bill to the table.

Lawmakers started 2024 with ambitious plans: legalizing lottery and sports betting while opening seven casinos across the state. But when it became clear that such expansive legislation wouldn’t pass, the Senate scaled it back and focused primarily on the lottery while also allowing for a few slot machine locations.

The streamlined bill passed the House comfortably. In the Senate, however, it needed 21 out of 35 votes — a 60% threshold — and fell just short with 20 votes.

The 2024 effort included a provision directing all lottery proceeds to an Education Trust Fund.

If new legislation in 2026 — or beyond — manages to pass both chambers, it would then go to Alabama voters in a statewide referendum. The last time a lottery bill reached that stage was in 1999, when voters rejected it by a 54-46% margin.

So while future lottery legislation remains a possibility, Alabama’s previous experience suggests it could face an uphill battle with voters — though that was a quarter-century ago, and public opinion may have shifted since then.

“And so, if it’s done, we’ll do it the right way … and we will make some money out of it,” Tuberville said.