By William C. Singleton III
Journal contributor
State Rep. Paul DeMarco, R-Homewood, and conservative think-tank founder Gary Palmer are headed for a July 15 runoff to represent the Sixth Congressional District, and several other candidates are also in runoffs in their races to represent Over the Mountain residents.
In the June 3 primary election, DeMarco received 16,467 votes or 37 percent with Palmer getting 8,115 or 18 percent to outpace the other four candidates, which included Rep. Scott Beason, R-Gardendale, Will Brooke of Redmont, Chad Mathis of Indian Springs Village, Robert Shattuck of Mountain Brook and Tom Vigneulle of Wilsonville.
Beason received 6,580 votes or 15 percent, Brooke received 6,846 votes or 15 percent and Mathis received 5,601 votes or 13 percent. Robert Shattuck received 1 percent of the votes cast, with 253 ballots cast in his favor. Tom Vigneulle captured 2 percent of the votes with 770.
The winner of the Republican runoff next month will face Democratic nominee Avery Vise and Libertarian Aimee Love in the November general election.
The Sixth Congressional District includes suburban areas outside of Birmingham, the southwestern portions of Jefferson County and all of Bibb, Blount, Chilton, Coosa and Shelby counties.
In state legislative races, Republican Arnold Mooney will face off against conservative commentator Amie Beth Shaver of Inverness in a runoff f to replace Mary Sue McClurkin, R-Indian Springs Village, to represent Alabama House District 43.
Mooney, a commercial real estate broker from Meadow Brook, received 2,327 votes or 30 percent to Shaver’s 1,746 or 23 percent.
They led a field of candidates that included John Bahakel of Hoover, Cheryl Ciamarra of unincorporated Shelby County, Doug Clark of Hoover, Gina McDonald of Hoover and Don Murphy of Pelham.
Clark won 1,500 votes or 19 percent, and Ciamarra captured 885 votes or 11 percent. Bahakel finished with 525 votes or 7 percent, Murphy had 536 votes or 7 percent and McDonald won 3 percent of the votes with 213 ballots cast in her favor.
House District 43 covers portions of Jefferson and Shelby counties, including parts of Birmingham, Hoover, Helena, Indian Springs, Inverness and Pelham.
In the legislative District 46 race, Republicans David Faulkner and Steve French, a former state legislator and senior vice president of business development at Sterne Agee, are headed for a runoff.
Faulkner, an attorney from Mountain Brook, received 3,582 votes or 45 percent while French, also of Mountain Brook, received 2,081 votes or 26 percent.
They outlasted Justin Barkley and Pamela Blackmore-Jenkins. Barkley, an attorney from Homewood, received 23 percent of the votes with 1,853 ballots cast in his favor. Blackmore-Jenkins, a Hoover resident, received 5 percent of the votes with 389.
The winner of the runoff between Faulkner and French will face Libertarian Steven Tucker in the November general election.
In the District 47 race, incumbent Rep. Jack Williams, R-Vestavia Hills, beat back a challenge from David Wheeler, a retired Alabama Power executive from Vestavia Hills. Williams received 2,623 votes or 60 percent of the vote to Wheeler’s 1,731 or 40 percent.
In the November general election, Williams will make a run his third full four-year term against Democrat Salvatore Bambinelli.
Williams was first elected to the District 47 seat in 2004 to fill an unexpired term.
In the District 52 race, veteran Democrat John Rogers Jr. of Birmingham defeated Patrick Sellers of Birmingham, a pastor and board member of the Birmingham-Jefferson County Transit Authority who was making his first bid for public office. Rogers has served in the legislature since 1981.
All vote totals are the unofficial results available to the Over the Mountain Journal at press time.
