Free Republic

Conservative policy analyst Gary Palmer has come from behind to defeat state Rep. Paul DeMarco in the Republican runoff in Alabama’s 6th District congressional race. With 53 percent of the precincts reporting Tuesday, Palmer led DeMarco with 62 percent. He was far ahead in all six counties in the central Alabama district. The results are a turnaround from the primary, when DeMarco easily outdistanced Palmer and five other candidates.

U.S. Rep. Spencer Bachus, R-Vestavia Hills, said this morning that he will not seek re-election in 2014. Bachus, 65, said in a statement released by email that he will retire from congress at the conclusion of his current term in December 2014. Bachus, who has represented the state's 6th congressional district since 1993, is the senior member of Alabama's congressional delegation.

GOP Rep. Jo Bonner is resigning after a decade in Congress to take a job at the University of Alabama, he announced Thursday. The congressman said he would leave the House by Aug. 15 to become vice chancellor of government relations and economic development at the University of Alabama System. Bonner’s sister, Judy, is the president of the university’s school in Tuscaloosa.