By MOLLY DAVIDSON / Staff Writer

Gary Palmer is the Republican Party nominee for the 6th Congressional District seat, winning the Republican primary run-off election over Paul DeMarco with 64 percent of votes.

“It’s something we felt like we were called to do… Gary has said that numerous times in his speeches,” Jon Jones, campaign manager for Palmer, said of the decision to run for the 6th Congressional District seat in a July 15 phone interview.

A University of Alabama graduate, Palmer co-founded and led the Alabama Policy Institute for 24 years.

Palmer is a committed conservative, and ran his campaign on a platform of Republican values. Palmer has demonstrated staunch opposition to ObamaCare, Common Core, amnesty to illegal immigrants and tax increases. He has voiced support for economic development through free markets, shrinking the national debt, and protecting Second Amendment rights.

The Republican primary race for the 6th Congressional district has been a long one. Originally a seven-candidate race, Palmer and DeMarco advanced to the July 15 run-off election after topping State Sen. Scott Beason, surgeon Chad Mathis, Harbert Management executive Will Broke, businessman Tom Vigneulle and retired attorney Robert Shattuck in the polls on June 3.

Coming in second to DeMarco in the June 3 results, Jones said the Palmer campaign stayed energized through support and positivity.

“There was an amazing amount of support that pushed us and allowed us the victory tonight,” Jones said. “We’re really proud of the race that we ran…we stayed as positive as we could.”

The DeMarco campaign was unable to be reached for comment as of 10 p.m. on July 15.

With the July 15 victory, Palmer will face Democrat Avery Vise and Libertarian Aimee Love as the Republican candidate for the seat of retiring U.S. Rep. Spencer Bachus, R-Vestavia Hills, in the November general elections.

“We will move forward with the ideas Gary has run on and really turn this country around,” Jones said, adding Palmer will continue “developing relationships with people in the district” and those he will be working with if elected in November, such as local mayors and city councils.

The 6th Congressional District covers Shelby, Bibb, Blount, Chilton and Jefferson counties, with the exception of the city of Birmingham. General elections will be held on Nov. 4.