6 big winners from Alabama’s 2014 runoff elections that you may not be thinking about

Alabama’s primary season officially came to a close Tuesday as the state’s runoff elections went off without a hitch — other than some open-carry activists trying to enter polling places with their weapons.

Before we dig in, here’s a quick look at the winning candidates:

Statewide races —
Secretary of State: John Merrill
Auditor: Jim Zeigler
Public Service Commission – Place 2: Chip Beeker

Federal elections —
6th Congressional District: Gary Palmer

Alabama Senate —
District 1: Tim Melson
District 17: Shay Shelnutt
District 22: Greg Albittron
District 30: Clyde Chambliss

Alabama House —
District 12: Corey Harbison
District 43: Arnold Mooney
District 72: Ralph Howard

Here are some of the other big winners from Tuesday night:

Birmingham-area conservative talkers

The conversation about winners Tuesday night has to start with Rick Burgess of Rick & Bubba fame. The Christian conservative talk radio giant was 2-0 Tuesday night, with Burgess-endorsed candidates Gary Palmer (Congress) and Arnold Mooney (State House) both winning. Burgess appeared in multiple Palmer ads and gave a passionate closing argument as to why he believed Palmer was the man for the job the day before the election. Rick & Bubba have been very choosy about which candidates they get behind, making their support even more valuable to the candidates who get it.

But Burgess wasn’t the only talker engaged in Tuesday’s elections. Matt Murphy of WAPI and Leland Whaley of WYDE both played a significant role in the Palmer victory.

Murphy moderated the debate that many people believe started the DeMarco decline, and conducted the most damning interview of the campaign, during which DeMarco refused to answer whether he’d ever sponsored a tax increase.

Whaley produced parodies mocking DeMarco’s widely-criticized attack ad on Palmer, proving that humor can often be the most effective weapon. Palmer appeared on his show multiple times, and Rick Santorum even dropped in just before the election to voice his support for Palmer.

Birmingham’s conservative talkers flexed their collective muscle during the runoff, and it showed in the results.

Cygnal

Montgomery-based communications firm Cygnal released an automated “Flash Poll” five days before the election that showed John Merrill with a slight lead in the Secretary or State race, Beeker and Zeigler comfortably ahead in the PSC and Auditor races, and Palmer with a 30-point lead over DeMarco in AL-06.

I’m not a big fan of flash polls and history has proven them to be wildly off target about as often as they are close.

Nothing in the Cygnal poll felt particularly off, except for the AL-06 portion showing Palmer with an enormous lead that basically represented a 40-to-50-point swing in a matter of a few weeks. That led me to tweet this a week before the election:

The #AL06 poll showing Palmer up huge is an extreme outlier compared to other polling I've seen. But w/ low turnout, who knows what happens.

— Cliff Sims (@Cliff_Sims) July 9, 2014

I’ve got to give credit where credit is due. Cygnal was right on every statewide race, and very close to the margin in the AL-06 race that Palmer won by 28. Tuesday was a good night for Cygnal.

Club for Growth

Tuesday, as Alabama voters were heading to the polls, National Journal published an article titled “Can the Club Turn Its Primary Season Around?”

“The Club” they were referring to is Club for Growth, one of Washington, D.C.’s most influential conservative groups with a long history of backing staunch conservative candidates against “establishment” favorites. The Club had racked up more losses than wins so far this cycle, with Sen. Thad Cochran’s comeback in the Mississippi Senate race being their most high profile defeat.

In the AL-06 race, The Club initially backed Chad Mathis, who came up short in the primary. But in the runoff, The Club threw its support behind Gary Palmer, dropping over $250,000 in attack ads on DeMarco. Their investment appears to have paid off big time.

“Congratulations to Gary Palmer, a smart conservative who will fight the big government liberals in Washington at every turn,” Club for Growth President Chris Chocola said upon hearing of Palmer’s victory.

For not bailing on the AL-06 race after Mathis flamed out, the Club ended up being a big winner in the end.

Scott Beason

The Tea Party favorite won’t be in the Alabama Senate next quadrennium, and he came up short in his second congressional bid, but Beason was 2-0 Tuesday night. He backed Palmer over his legislative colleague, DeMarco, and supported Shay Shelnutt, who won Tuesday night and will be his successor in Senate District 17.

TV reporters were still flocking to Beason at Palmer’s victory party. Yellowhammer’s going to go out on a limb and say that Beason’s days in Alabama politics are far from over, even if he’s done with elected office for good.

Alabama’s coal industry

The coal industry and the 16,000 Alabamians who work in it threw their support behind Republican Chip Beeker early in his bid to unseat incumbent Public Service Commissioner Terry Dunn. Even though Dunn had worn out his welcome with many conservatives by siding with environmental groups on a series of votes, it’s still a tough proposition in any race to knock off an incumbent.

Pro-coal groups worked hard to frame the PSC election as a referendum on President Obama’s “War on Coal.” The messaging resonated with Alabama votes, who responded by electing Beeker by a wide margin. The “anti-coal policies of Barack Obama and his liberal extremist cronies at the EPA” even got a shout out in Beeker’s victory email blast.

Positive ads

"Give people a reason to vote for you, and not against somebody else." -Gary Palmer #AL06 #PalmerforAlabama #alpolitics

— Gary Palmer (@Palmer4Alabama) July 16, 2014

Not to get too touch-feely here as I write this at 3:15 a.m., but does it not restore your faith in humanity that a person can get elected to Congress without running a single negative ad?

Who else do you think was a big winner Tuesday night? What about losers? Let us know in the comment section below.

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Follow Cliff on Twitter @Cliff_Sims