Primary Runoff Election 2014 Results
Alabama voters made their selections in statewide, state legislative, congressional and local primary runoffs Tuesday.
In a race closely watched in North Alabama, policy analyst Gary Palmer secured the Republican nomination in Alabama’s 6th Congressional district. Palmer defeated State Representative Paul DeMarco. The six weeks between the June primary and the Tuesday runoff were marked by heated campaigning and negative ads. Alabama’s 6th Congressional district is solidly Republican, giving Palmer a high chance of winning the general election in November. The winner of that race replaces retiring longtime U.S. Representative Spencer Bachus of Vestavia Hills.
Here are the results from key races with the winner declared by the Associated Press.
Statewide Races
Secretary of State (GOP)
100 percent precincts reporting
John Merrill – 53 percent
Reese McKinney – 47 percent
Auditor (GOP)
100 percent precincts reporting
Jim Zeigler – 65 percent
Dale Peterson – 35 percent
Public Service Comm Place 2 (GOP)
100 percent precincts reporting
Chip Beeker – 59 percent
Terry Dunn – 41 percent
Congressional Race
U.S. House District 6 (GOP)
100 percent precincts reporting
Gary Palmer – 64 percent
Paul DeMarco – 36 percent
Alabama voters also approved a constitutional amendment that will allow cotton farmers to vote to make a fee mandatory that they have been paying voluntarily on each bale of cotton.
With 99 percent of the precincts reporting Tuesday night, the constitutional amendment was passing with 67 percent voting yes and 33 percent voting no.
The $1 a bale fee is now paid on all cotton when it’s delivered to the gin, but those who don’t want to pay it can get a refund. Less than 10 percent usually request a refund. The fee is used for cotton promotion and research.
The constitutional amendment drew supported from the Alabama Farmers Federation and other agricultural groups.
Bessemer residents want answers about a four-million-square-foot data center coming to their backyards
Residents in and around Bessemer are furious over Project Marvel, a plan to build a 4.5-million-square-foot data processing facility on 700 acres of wooded land. Public officials have been sworn to silence.
A Russian drone strike in northeastern Ukraine kills 9 people, officials say
The drone hit a bus evacuating civilians from a front-line area in Ukraine's northeastern Sumy region Saturday, hours after Moscow and Kyiv had held their first direct peace talks in years.
How DOGE has tried to embed beyond the executive branch
NPR has identified nearly 40 small, independent entities – both inside and outside the federal government's control – that a team of young DOGE staffers has tried to access in recent weeks.
The first time we had ‘one big, beautiful bill’ we called it Reaganomics
Budget reconciliation may not be catchy, but it's been a vital tool for many presidents, including Ronald Reagan, whose first federal budget was a watershed in the history of federal fiscal policy.
Trump’s DOJ focuses in on voter fraud, with a murky assist from DOGE
President Trump and his allies have long made false claims of widespread noncitizen voting. Now, as the GOP pursues new restrictions, experts worry isolated arrests will be used to push the new rules.
At least 7 people dead and widespread damage left in the wake of severe Midwest storms
The storms were part of a severe weather system Friday that caused damage in Missouri, left hundreds of thousands without power in the Great Lakes region and brought a heat wave to Texas.
