Gary Palmer is among the House’s most rock-ribbed conservatives and serves as the fourth-ranking member in GOP leadership. He is a former think-tank executive in Alabama who fashions himself more a solutions-oriented policy wonk than a partisan bomb-thrower. Called a “known climate denier” by the Sierra Club, Palmer cites disagreements over whether humans are the reason for climate change. After graduating from the University of Alabama, he began his career at an engineering company. He later founded the Alabama Family Alliance, which later became the Alabama Policy Institute, and was a founding director of the State Policy Network.

Learn what Gary Palmer says about finding common ground