Gary Palmer concluded a stunning upset Tuesday night, besting Paul DeMarco in the Republican primary for Alabama’s 6th Congressional District seat after starting with a 14-point disadvantage going into the runoff. Yellowhammer News called the race with Palmer up 62% – 38% with half of precincts reporting. We will update this story as the final votes are tallied.

We're calling it: @Palmer4Alabama beats @Paul_DeMarco in #AL06 #alpolitics

— Yellowhammer (@YHPolitics) July 16, 2014

Palmer, the longtime head of the Alabama Policy Institute, a Birmingham-based conservative think tank, will now be the odds-on favorite going into the general election in one of the most Republican districts in the country.

DeMarco entered the Republican primary and runoff heavily favored, but a series of stumbles in debates and interviews — as well as the release of a highly-criticized attack ad — derailed his campaign. Palmer was ultimately able to close the gap in spite of being at a fairly significant fundraising disadvantage.

Palmer chose not to run a single negative ad throughout the race, a rarity in an age of scorched-earth campaign tactics. But his campaign was aided by about a quarter-million dollars in attack ads on DeMarco funded by Club for Growth, a Washington, D.C.-based conservative PAC that had endorsed Chad Mathis in the primary, but switched to Palmer in the runoff. PACs and campaigns are banned by law from coordinating.

Palmer will now face off against Democrat Avery Wise and Libertarian candidate Aimee Love in the General Election in November. Mitt Romney won the district Romney 74% – 25% in 2012, so barring something unforeseen, Gary Palmer will be central Alabama’s next Congressman.

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