Only two more working days left in Alabama Legislative Session '26. Click here to follow updates throughout the day. Of course, the rest of the week we'll have highlights in this newsletter and on the Down in Alabama podcast.

Thanks for reading,

Ike Morgan

Looking for the podcast? Click here or check other options below.

Fundraising runaway

U.S. Sen. Tommy Tuberville continued to run away in the fundraising race in his bid to follow Kay Ivey as Alabama's next governor.

AL.com's Ruth Serven Smith reports that Tuberville, a Republican, raised $581,377 in March and has nearly a million-dollar balance in his campaign fund.

Contrast that with the second-highest fundraiser, Democrat and former U.S. Sen. Doug Jones, who pulled in $175,387 last month.

Among Tuberville's top donations included $150,000 from businessman Raymond J. Harbert of the Harbert Management Corporation.

He received $30,000 from VGW Luckyland Inc., a subsidiary of a big Australian gambling company. And just last month he received a $10,000 donation from The Big Easy Casino in Hallandale Beach, Fla. -- the first time since 2014 a casino was listed as a direct contributor to an Alabama political campaign.

Alabama still prohibits gambling outside of exceptions for the Poarch Band of Creek Indians. Tuberville hasn't taken a position on gambling or a lottery, instead saying that the governor should not be involved in the issue and should leave it to the Legislature.

Quoting

“It is crazy to me that folks that are winning at this level now want to change the playing field. So I hope y’ all pass it. Because what it does is it’s gonna hurt you all more than it’s gonna hurt us.”

State Sen. Merika Coleman, a Pleasant Grove Democrat, to Republicans who are pushing for closed primaries in which a voter must be registered with a specific party to vote in that party's primary.

Ethics complaint in the guv's race

Speaking of Tuberville's campaign funds, last week Republican gubernatorial primary opponent Ken McFeeters filed a complaint asking the Alabama Ethics Commission to investigate $3,600 in Tuberville food and travel charges in Florida near where he's owned homes, reports AL.com's Ruth Serven Smith.

This is absolutely related to McFeeters' accusations that Tuberville has not lived in Alabama for the mandated seven years leading up to this fall's election. The state Republican Party has waved off his challenges.

McFeeters has said he'll drop out if Tuberville releases credit card, utility bills and tax returns that show he has been spending his time in Alabama when he's away from D.C. and has claimed Alabama as his state of residence when paying taxes over the seven years.

He also warned Republican voters about the coming campaign: “He’s got to step down before the primary, or we’re going to have a Democratic governor of Alabama.”

Picture That

It's safety first for the Artemis II crew (counterclockwise from top left: Mission Specialist Christina Koch, Mission Specialist Jeremy Hansen, Commander Reid Wiseman, and Pilot Victor Glover) as they put on their eclipse viewers during their moon flyby on Monday. The views from the capsule Integrity included a solar eclipse. (Photo from NASA via The Associated Press)

RIP, Ed Buckbee

The first director of the U.S. Space & Rocket Center, Ed Buckbee, has died, reports AL.com's Scott Turner.

Wernher Von Braun picked Buckbee for the job back in 1970. Buckbee was at the center for 23 years, along the way founding the U.S. Space Camp and Aviation Challenge programs.

Ed Buckbee was 89 years old.

By the Numbers

$100 million

That's how much money Huntsville's Performance Drone Works has secured in order to increase its production of the drones it makes for defense and public-safety purposes. Performance Drone Works supports contracts with U.S. military branches as well as federal, local and international public-safety entities.

Can't do that

AL.com's Carol Robinson reports that Leeds police arrested a 36-year-old woman on allegations that she sprayed two young children with bear spray.

Police say a small child with a puffy face was reported running down the street yelling for help. Officers arrived and took two elementary-age kids to a Birmingham hospital. They said their mom had sprayed them with bug spray, but detectives say they found bear spray at the home. The kids are now with DHR.

Bear spray is supposed to be worse than pepper spray.

The woman was charged with aggravated child abuse, a felony.

More state and national politics

Born on This Date

In 1977, computer engineer Mark Spencer of Auburn.

Support local journalism

If you miss that feeling of sitting down with in-depth, local reporting, consider subscribing to the Huntsville Times, Birmingham News, or Mobile Press-Register.

By subscribing, you’ll get a new daily digital edition in an email link, or you can use an app to download the new edition every day on your smartphone or tablet. You also get exclusive access to stories written for our subscribers.

“Down in Alabama” listeners get your first month free by going to al.com/digitalsubscription/exclusive and enter the promo code DIAPOD.

On the Podcast

You can find “Down in Alabama” wherever you get your podcasts, including these places:

Don't be a stranger

We appreciate you for taking the time to read today. Hope you're able to check back soon. Meantime, reply to this email with any suggestions you might have.

If you're so inclined, we'd love it if you'd forward to friends who might be interested in reading. (And if you're someone who's been forwarded this newsletter, we encourage you to subscribe and get this in your inbox every day.)

Subscribe to this newsletter