Republican U.S. Sen. Richard Shelby has been elected to a sixth term.

On Tuesday, Shelby easily defeated Democratic challenger Ron Crumpton. Crumpton is best known in the state as an advocate for legalizing medicinal marijuana.

The 82-year-old senator was first elected as Democrat in 1986, but switched to the GOP in 1994. He faced no significant opposition in 2004 and 2006, as right-leaning scorecards ranked him as one of the most conservative members of the U.S. Senate.

By The Associated Press

Republican U.S. Rep. Gary Palmer has won his first re-election campaign in the 6th District of central Alabama.

The one-time leader of a conservative think tank defeated Democratic challenger David J. Putman according to unofficial, incomplete returns from voting Tuesday.n for being more interested in policy than politics will be rewarded on Tuesday.

Palmer won his initial two-year term in Congress in 2014 following the retirement of longtime Republican Rep. Spencer Bachus.

It’s campaign season, but Rep. Gary Palmer, R-Hoover, is not necessarily in campaign mode. The freshman congressman is letting his record and policy positions do the talking instead of stump speeches.

Palmer, whose suburban Birmingham district is among the most conservative in one of the reddest states in the country, told AL.com that his visibility in the seven counties he represents and his reputation for being more interested in policy than politics will be rewarded on Tuesday.

“My attitude is that my job is to represent the 6th District, not be an absentee representative, so I come home every weekend. I work in the district when I’m home, I’ve been in every county multiple times and I’m doing what I can to help,” Palmer said.

CLAY— Citizens of Clay welcomed Alabama 6th District U.S. Congressman Gary Palmer Monday night when he hosted a Town Hall meeting at City Hall. The meeting was an opportunity for Palmer to update the community on the issues being faced by Congress and to give audience members a chance to ask questions and voice concerns.

The event was the first of seven which will take place in October throughout the area and which Palmer hopes will maintain the relationship between himself and local communities. “When I ran for Congress, one of the things I wanted to do was to not be an absentee member of Congress for you,” Palmer said. “I have a real soft place in my heart for rural communities.”

By BRIANA HARRIS / Staff Writer

PELHAM – As U.S. Rep. Gary Palmer, R-Vestavia Hills, stood in a room full on engineers on Tuesday, Nov. 1, he shared with them that he used worked at a manufacturing plant at night earning less than $6 per hour to help pay his way through school.

“Physically, that was the hardest job that I think I’ve ever had,” he said. “When I got home after that first night I think I just laid out on the floor and passed out.”

By MICHAEL J. BROOKS / For the Reporter

PELHAM – U.S. Rep. Gary Palmer of Alabama’s 6^th Congressional District said America is on a breakneck course to bankruptcy, and pledged to do all he could to stop wasteful government spending.

“We must get our fiscal house in order,” he said. “We have unaccountable government expenditures and unaccountable government receipts.”