A former Navy SEAL is leading Alabama's attorney general and a congressman to replace Tommy Tuberville in the U.S. Senate, according to a shocking new poll.
Jared Hudson, a former SEAL and small business owner who unsuccessfully challenged Jefferson County Sheriff Mark Pettway in 2022, beat out two more established and better funded candidates.
Hudson edged Alabama Attorney General Steve Marshall by three points and crushes U.S. Rep. Barry Moore, R-Enterprise, by 20 points in the Quantus Insights poll released Thursday.
Hudson, who with his wife founded Covenant Rescue Group to combat human trafficking and child exploitation, led the field with 27%, followed by Marshall with 24% and Moore with 9%.
In the most recent disclosures to the Federal Election Commission, Moore reported raising $513,992 in donations from July through September -- almost $100,000 more than the $417,890 in contributions reported by Marshall.
Hudson came in third in the third-quarter money race with a more than $330,861 haul.
Both former Tuberville and Trump staffer Morgan Murphy and business owner Rodney Walker polled at 2%.
A plurality of respondents -- 36% -- were undecided.
Tuberville is not seeking reelection and is instead running for governor of Alabama.
"New poll just dropped, and Alabama's ready for a fighter, not another politician! The results are encouraging, but there's still a long runway before Election Day. The only poll that matters Is on May 19th!" Hudson posted to his campaign's Facebook page, referring to the date of the GOP primary. "This is the moment to double down and keep the momentum building."
Efforts to reach the Marshall and Moore campaigns were not immediately successful.
The Quantus Insights survey also asked respondents which of six backgrounds best prepares someone to serve in the U.S. Senate without mentioning the candidate tied to that background.
Hudson's background -- "a distinguished military career with national security experience" -- polled the best at 33%, followed by Marshall's -- "an experienced state-level leader with a background in law or law enforcement" -- at 30%.
Behind those was Walker's background -- "a self-made business owner with private-sector experience" -- at 23% and Moore's background -- "a current member of Congress with federal legislative experience" -- at 10%.
While the survey did not ask respondents about sports talk show host Paul Finebaum, who is considering a Senate run, his background -- "a public figure with a background in sports or media" polled at 2%.
Also polling at 2% was Murphy's background -- "a former official in a recent presidential administration."
The poll of 1,050 Alabama Republicans was conducted from Monday through Tuesday via text and published Thursday.