HOMEWOOD, Alabama – After a grueling, mud-stained six-week runoff and, before that, a months-long primary campaign, the battle for the Alabama 6th Congressional district Republican nomination is over. Gary Palmer has emerged the winner of the Republican nomination for the open seat, beating out Paul DeMarco.

In this heavily Republican district comprised of Bibb, Blount, Chilton, Coosa, Shelby, and parts of Jefferson County, the winner of the Republican nomination has a very strong shot at winning the general election in November to replace U.S. Rep. Spencer Bachus, R-Vestavia Hills, who is retiring at the end of this term.

Palmer won 64 percent of the vote to DeMarco's 36 percent. Palmer started with a large lead early in the evening, and never lost it as results came in. Nearly 75,000 voters cast ballots in the runoff.

Palmer will face Democrat Avery Vise on Nov. 4 in what's considered one of the safest GOP districts in the nation.

"I've never run for office for and I really didn't know what to expect, but the thing that's most gratifying is to see how many people, really behind you and believe in you and believe in the country," Palmer told AL.com when asked how he felt Tuesday night.

"It's incredibly humbling, and I just wish people could get a sense of that, and I think it would really motivate people to get involved."

In a speech to supporters in Birmingham Tuesday night, Palmer said his campaign was supported by prayer.

"Politics shouldn't be a career. It should be a mission," he said.

He told AL.com Tuesday that he felt a call that started when he heard that Bachus was resigning after this term. He said he told his wife he didn't want to run, but she encouraged him.

"'I know this is not what we want, but I don't think it's about what we want, it's about what we're supposed to do,'" Ann Palmer told her husband, he said. "That really convicted me."

The fact that it was a call gave him confidence, he said.

"I knew this was a call, and because it was a call I knew it was going to come out the way it was supposed to," Palmer told AL.com. "That's one of the reasons why I've never been concerned about how it's going to come out."

Asked what DeMarco and Palmer talked about during his concession Tuesday night, Palmer said he wanted to "renew his friendship" with DeMarco.

"He just congratulated me and I told him that I'd like to get with him sometime and renew our friendship, and I am sincere about that," Palmer said. "I made a decision years ago even in public policy that I would not make it personal, and I try not to take it personal."

DeMarco conceded to a raucous group of supporters in the lobby of Aloft Hotel at 8:40 p.m. Tuesday night.

"First of all, I have congratulated Gary Palmer and I wish him the best for November," DeMarco said. He thanked his supporters effusively.

"We love this country, so we want what's best for us," DeMarco said. He urged the supporters to "push this country forward, to push our elected leaders to do what's in the best interest" of the union.

"We will all move forward from tonight," DeMarco said. "We will all continue to move forward because we live in the greatest country in the world."

DeMarco also asked for a round of applause for his wife, Jacqueline. "She's been through a lot these past six months, in addition to giving birth to our child, so, thank you, I love you," DeMarco said to laughs and cheers.

Palmer, who is the chief development officer of the conservative thinktank the Alabama Policy Institute, was the underdog coming into the runoff.

After a late surge before the June 3 primary, Palmer earned 20 percent of the vote in that primary to come in second and make it into the runoff with DeMarco, beating out five other candidates. DeMarco cruised to first place in the June 3 primary with 33 percent.

A lackluster debate performance at Regions Field in June signaled the start of runoff troubles for DeMarco. Then, a negative ad that was badly received by many seemed to put him farther off course. A poll last week by the firm Cygnal projected Palmer would win by 30 points.

Palmer's victory came despite his campaign raising significantly less than DeMarco. Combined, both candidates raised well more than $2.5 million over the course of the primary and runoff campaigns.

As of the June 25 required Federal Election Commission "pre-runoff" financial report, DeMarco raised a total of $1.6 million, and Palmer raised $980,000. Fundraising for both candidates has continued since June 25.

Immediately after the race was called for Palmer, Alabama U.S. Reps. Martha Roby and Bradley Byrne both sent congratulations for Palmer, as did Club for Growth, an independent PAC that backed Palmer and ran negative ads against DeMarco during the runoff.