Palmer, Sewell face challengers in Congressional District 6, 7 primaries

The two members of Congress who represent parts of Hoover both have challengers in their respective primary elections on March 5.

U.S. Rep. Gary Palmer, a Hoover resident who is nearing the end of his fifth two-year term in Congressional District 6, has two battling him in the Republican primary: Gerrick Wilkins of Vestavia Hills and Ken McFeeters of the Indian Lake subdivision in north Shelby County.

Meanwhile, U.S. Rep. Terri Sewell, a Birmingham resident who is in her seventh two-year term in Congressional District 7, is facing opposition from Chris Davis, also of Birmingham, in the Democratic primary.

Each Congressional district covers different parts of Homewood. District 6 covers the eastern part of Homewood, including Hollywood, Brookwood, Shades Cliff, Rosedale, Overton Park, portions of Mayfair and Edgewood south of Oxmoor Road. District 7 includes all parts of Homewood west of Interstate 65, plus areas on the east side such as Green Springs, Valley Avenue, Grove Park, downtown Homewood and the portions of Edgewood roughly north of Oxmoor Road and west of Edgewood Boulevard, Forest Drive South and Rockaway Road.

District 6 also includes Vestavia Hills, Mountain Brook, Trussville, Clay, parts of Hoover, the northeastern part of Jefferson County, a small part of Talladega County and all of Shelby, Bibb, Chilton, Coosa, Autauga and Elmore counties. District 7 also includes most of Birmingham, parts of Hoover and western Jefferson County, parts of Clarke, Montgomery and Tuscaloosa counties and all of Choctaw, Dallas, Greene, Hale, Lowndes, Marengo, Pickens, Perry, Sumter and Wilcox counties.

DISTRICT 6

The Republican race for District 6 has shaped up to be a battle about term limits and who can better advance a conservative agenda.

Palmer broke an earlier promise not to seek more than 10 years in office and decided to run again, and Wilkins and McFeeters have criticized that decision. Wilkins said Palmer has done more talk than action and made poor decisions that do not adequately represent conservative Alabama values.

Palmer said he makes his decisions based on the right thing to do and doesn’t check to see how groups score politicians before he votes, but he said he has maintained a 95% rating from the American Conservative Union.

Palmer said he struggled with the decision to run for a sixth term but was encouraged by others to do so and felt God leading him in that direction. He said the country has been headed in the wrong direction, and if Donald Trump is elected, “we’ve got a chance to really fix some things.”

Palmer said there has been a huge turnover among Republicans in Congress in recent years, and “we’re hemorrhaging in experience and institutional knowledge.”

As chairman of the Republican Policy Committee, member of the House Energy and Commerce Committee and a former member of the House Budget Committee, he believes his experience and background in policy matters, the budget and Congressional procedure will be needed.

Wilkins and McFeeters have criticized Palmer for advocating for spending billions of dollars to aid Ukraine in its war with Russia while the United States faces an “invasion” at its southern border. Palmer said he voted against more recent bills to provide financial support to Ukraine.

Wilkins also faulted Palmer for voting to kill the Border Security and Immigration Reform Act in 2018.

Palmer said he voted against that act because it was a bad bill that would have increased the number of illegal immigrants coming into the country and given amnesty to too many already here.

Palmer said the most important issues to him right now are border security, the cost of living and opening up access to natural resources such as natural gas, critical minerals and Canadian oil.

Nearly 7 million people have entered the country illegally since Biden came into office, and there have been 345 U.S. Border Patrol encounters with known or suspected terrorists or potential threats between U.S. ports of entry since that time, according to U.S. Customs and Border Protection. It’s a threat to national security when you don’t know who is crossing the borders, Palmer said.

Trump’s “return to Mexico” policy needs to be reinstated as a law, as well as a requirement that people not be allowed in the country until it is verified they are not carrying viruses, Palmer said.

Pressure must be put on Mexico through trade agreements, and the United States must build a wall on its southern border and pay for better surveillance technology, including technology that better detects fentanyl, he said.

The government also has to get control of inflation, Palmer said. Under the Biden administration, inflation soared over 9%, and the cumulative impact of inflation was as high as 17%, based on the Consumer Price Index, he said. A family with a median household income had $12,000 less buying power because of the high inflation, and 64% of the increase in fuel costs in the last two years was due to higher energy costs, Palmer said.

Wilkins said government cannot overlook the pressing moral issues of the day.

“Our society faces an urgent call to safeguard the unborn, to counter child exploitation and eradicate the scourge of human trafficking that is pervading our country,” Wilkins said. “My commitment to the intrinsic value of everyone from conception to natural end remains steadfast and unwavering. I pledge to spearhead policies that nurture and protect life and confront the menace of human trafficking at its roots.”

Wilkins also said he will fight for fiscal responsibility in Congress, support a balanced budget amendment and push for significant cuts to the federal bureaucracy. The current national debt is $34.2 trillion, up from $31.7 trillion in 2020, according to the U.S. Treasury.

McFeeters said he was drawn into this race because of the crazy government overreach during the COVID-19 pandemic, the U.S. involvement in the Russia-Ukraine war and the false narratives being spun related to the Jan. 6, 2021, protests in Washington, D.C.

McFeeters said he opposes the Federal Reserve banking system and doesn’t believe the U.S. government should owe money to a private entity like that. The U.S. government owed $5.4 trillion to the Federal Reserve as of the end of the third quarter of 2023, according to the Fed. McFeeters said it would be better to use that money to replenish the Social Security fund.

McFeeters also wants to do away with required mRNA vaccinations for infants and children, saying medical decisions should be left up to individuals.

The winner of the March 5 Republican primary will face Democrat Elizabeth Anderson in the Nov. 5 general election.

DISTRICT 7

In Congressional District 7, Davis said he was motivated to run against Sewell in part because of the horrible condition of some parts of the district and what he considers to be inaction on Sewell’s part.

The Seventh Congressional District has the worst life expectancy of any of the 435 Congressional districts in the country, according to data from Harvard University. “There’s no crime in that statistic,” Davis said. “The crime is that nobody is doing anything about that.” There has been no significant effort to get the Seventh Congressional District off the bottom of that list, he said.

The district faces a host of environmental justice problems, where predominantly minority communities get stuck with environmental waste sites that need cleaning up, from Collegeville and North Birmingham to the train cars full of waste in Sumter County or open sewer problems in Selma and Tuscaloosa, Davis said.

There is air, water and soil pollution in some neighborhoods and other areas where trains block the roads and make it difficult for residents to travel, he said.

“The federal government has to have a hand in providing these families with environmental justice,” Davis said. The government either needs to improve the areas where these people live or help them move to safer environments, he said.

The district also is suffering from rural hospital closures, and people are dying trying to get hospitals in Birmingham or Tuscaloosa and don’t have access to preventative care, Davis said. A member of Congress should pull together resources to remedy that, he said.

Davis also said Sewell has failed to bring significant federal projects to District 7, like the FBI office for Huntsville (expected to grow to 5,000 jobs) or modernized docks in Mobile.

Sewell said she has a proven track record of working to bring jobs to the district, saying she worked with other federal and state officials to bring a $150 million Golden Dragon Copper of China plant to Wilcox County. There have been other significant economic development projects in the district, including the Amazon fulfillment center and Dollar General distribution center in Bessemer, she said. Just this past fall, the Birmingham metro area was designated as one of 31 federal technology hubs, putting the region in the running for significant federal investment dollars, she added.

Sewell also said she has a proven record of working to improve the quality of life for people in the district. She said she has secured more than $11.5 billion in federal grants since taking office in 2011, including $62.6 million for water and sewer improvements in the Black Belt, $50 million for affordable housing projects in Birmingham, $38 million to fight crime and make communities safer, $30 million for public transportation in Birmingham, $13 million to preserve historic civil rights sites, $8.8 million for a program to provide nurse practitioners to underserved areas and $4.1 million for a Rails to Trails project along Valley Creek.

Sewell said she was the only member of Congress from Alabama to vote in favor of a 2021 $1.2 trillion infrastructure bill that will provide $1.4 billion to expand broadband in Alabama, which she said is critical for commerce, education and health care delivery. She also will continue working to stop gun violence and provide access to quality health care, she said.

She said she is eager to get to know people who have been added to her district in the latest Congressional redistricting.

The winner of the Democratic primary in District 7 should face Republican Robin Litaker of Homewood in the Nov. 5 general election. The other Republican who qualified, Christian Horn, announced in February he was withdrawing from the race.

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District 6

Name: Ken McFeeters 

Party: Republican

Age: 63

Residence: Indian Lake in north Shelby County

Political experience: Unsuccessful bid to replace David Wheeler in Alabama House District 47 in 2022; former president of Mid-Alabama Republican Club

Professional experience: Has owned and run PAC Insurance Agency for 42 years (offices in Hoover, Bessemer and Roebuck)

Civic experience: Legislative chairman for Alabama Independent Insurance Agents for 10 of last 20 years

Education: Berry High School graduate, 1979

Main issues: Redirect payments going to Federal Reserve to replenish Social Security; abolish the U.S. Department of Education; eliminate mRNA shots for infants and children; defund and withdraw from the United Nations and World Health Organization; change leadership in federal agencies; end U.S. involvement in Russia-Ukraine war

Website/social media: Ken4America.com; X: @Ken35216; Facebook: Ken Abe McFeeters

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Name: Gary Palmer (incumbent) 

Party: Republican

Age: 69

Residence: Hoover

Political experience: Elected to U.S. Congress in 2014 representing Alabama’s 6th District; now in his fifth two-year term

Professional experience: President of the Alabama Policy Institute for 24 years; worked in engineering, as well as with Focus on the Family

Civic experience: Rotary Club of Birmingham; member of Briarwood Presbyterian Church

Education: Bachelor’s degree in operations management from University of Alabama in 1977

Main issues: Better secure the U.S. border with Mexico; get control of inflation; open access to energy resources such as natural gas, critical minerals and Canadian oil

Website/social media: palmerforalabama.com; X: @Palmer4Alabama; Facebook: Gary Palmer for Alabama

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Name: Gerrick Wilkins  

Party: Republican

Age: 46

Residence: Vestavia Hills

Political experience: First run for public office

Professional experience: Has worked in automotive industry more than 24 years; now is broker in sale of dealerships for Dealer Support Network

Civic experience: Advisory board for Samford University Brock School of Business; on board for Mission Increase Alabama, which provides free counseling to nonprofits on a Biblical approach to fundraising; member of The Gideons International

Education: Master’s degree in business administration from Samford University in 2016; bachelor’s degree in religion from Liberty University

Main issues: Conservative representation; secure U.S. borders; safeguard the unborn; counter child exploitation and human trafficking; be fiscally responsible in Congress; balance the budget; support term limits; dismantle the U.S. Department of Education

Website/social media: WilkinsforAL.com; X: @WilkinsforAL; Facebook: Gerrick Wilkins for Congress

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District 7

Name: Chris Davis 

Party: Democratic

Age: 50

Residence: Birmingham

Political experience: Ran unsuccessfully for Alabama House District 59 in 2014 and Birmingham City Council in 2017

Professional experience: Director of government affairs for BHM Law Group; previously worked as director of business development for attorney Barry Walker and in Washington, D.C., Mayor Adrian Fenty’s Office on Community Relations; worked on Maryland Congressman Elijah Cummings’s staff in Baltimore and Washington, D.C.; worked in Capitol Hill whip organization for then-Sen. Barack Obama; was head of outreach for press, clergy and elected officials for the Obama campaign in Maryland

Civic experience: Vulcan Kiwanis Club member; Anytown camp counselor for high school students for two years

Education: Law degree, Birmingham School of Law, 2020; bachelor’s degree in political science from the University of Alabama at Birmingham, 2005

Main issues: Improve life expectancy in Seventh Congressional District; provide environmental justice by improving environment in distressed areas or helping people move; provide quality health care to underserved areas; reduce gun violence; reinstate assault weapons ban; bring federal projects to the district to provide jobs

Website/social media: chrisdavis4congress.com; Facebook: Chris Davis for Congress

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Name: Terri Sewell (incumbent) 

Party: Democratic

Age: 59

Residence: Birmingham

Political experience: Elected in 2011 to U.S. Congress to represent Alabama's 7th Congressional District; now in her seventh two-year term

Professional experience: More than 15 years as a securities and public finance attorney; worked for Davis, Polk & Wardwell in New York City and Maynard, Cooper & Gale in Birmingham

Civic experience: Silver Star and life member of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority; has served as chairwoman and treasurer of St. Vincent’s Foundation’s board, board member of the Girl Scouts of Cahaba Council, Alabama chapter of the National Multiple Sclerosis Society, community advisory board for the UAB Minority Health and Research Center, governing board of the Alabama Council on Economic Education and corporate council for the Birmingham Art Museum

Education: Law degree, Harvard Law School, 1992; master’s degree, Oxford University, 1988; bachelor’s degree, Princeton University, 1986

Main issues: Create jobs; improve infrastructure (roads, bridges, water, sewer, broadband); improve access to affordable and quality health care and affordable housing; reduce gun violence; battle opioid addiction and substance abuse

Website/social media: sewellforcongress.com; X: @Sewell4Congress; Facebook: Rep. Terri Sewell