Ex-Auburn, Cincinnati HC Tommy Tuberville Elected to US Senate

Former Auburn head football coach Tommy Tuberville has been elected to the United States Senate after defeating incumbent Doug Jones in Alabama, per the Associated Press.

Tuberville, a Republican, held an 11-point lead in the latest Auburn University poll, per Real Clear Politics. He held 594,368 votes to Jones' 368,401 votes in "incomplete, unofficial returns" at 9:11 p.m. ET, when the AP called the race, per Brian Lyman of the Montgomery Advertiser.

Tuberville will begin his term in January, per Lyman. He was a college football head coach from 1995 to 2008 and then 2010 to 2016. 

The 66-year-old led Ole Miss, Auburn, Texas Tech and Cincinnati, going 159-99 in his 21 seasons. Seven of Tuberville's teams finished in the Top 25, including the 2004 Auburn Tigers, who ended their season 13-0 and No. 2 in the Associated Press and Coaches' polls. The 2006 Tiger team notably finished ninth in the AP poll after an 11-2 season capped by a Cotton Bowl win.

Tuberville, who had never run for political office before, announced his intent to challenge Jones on April 6, 2019. Jones assumed the Senate office on Jan. 3, 2018.