Gary Palmer, President of the Alabama Policy Institute, is going to announce his candidacy for Alabama’s 6th Congressional District seat next week, according to sources close to the long-time conservative think tank leader.

Palmer founded API as the Alabama Family Alliance in 1989. Since then, he has built the non-profit organization into the state’s leading right-of-center policy shop, filling a void left by the fact that there are very few staffers working for the state legislature.

Palmer will likely be one of the favorites among voters who place social issues at the top of their list of priorities.

He currently serves on Gov. Bentley’s Alabama Commission on Improving State Government. He is a founding director of the State Policy Network, the professional service organization for America’s state-based, free market think tanks and he served on the SPN board of directors for six years, the final two as president.

He is a graduate of the University of Alabama with a B.S. degree in Operations Management and he received an honorary doctorate from the University of Mobile.

One of the main questions about Palmer’s candidacy is whether or not he’ll be able to translate his fundraising successes at API into financial support for his candidacy.

Yellowhammer spoke briefly to Palmer by phone this afternoon, but he was stepping into a meeting and was not able to answer any questions. We will update this article when we hear back.

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