Whether he might face any consequences for this potential violation, however, is unclear.Ĭourts and congressional committees have looked into similar violations in the past.

In Tuberville’s case, it’s possible that he doesn’t meet the constitutional minimum of state residency. In fact, a 2017 report from The Washington Post found that about 5% of all House members don’t live in the districts they represent. Strange as it may sound, this means that House members don’t even need to live in their specific district – just their home state. The framers decided that members of both the House and the Senate would be required only to be “an inhabitant” of the state they represent. In the case of Congress, it was debated heavily during the Constitutional Convention in 1787. The legal requirement that candidates and members of legislative bodies live in the place they represent is not new.

Because Tuberville is running up against one of the oldest constitutional requirements that apply to anyone running for Congress: that candidates must live in the state they represent by the time they take office.īut whether Tuberville’s situation actually violates the Constitution – or matters to voters – is another question.

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