By GRAHAM BROOKS / Staff Writer

MONTEVALLO– Mark Lester said he believes Congress is broken. Lester believes this has happened because politicians of both parties have been appealing only to the most radical wings of their parties.

A variety of topics were covered in Lester’s recent visit to Eclipse Coffee and Books located near the University of Montevallo Friday, Oct 3.

Lester, who is currently a professor at Birmingham-Southern College, is running to represent Alabama’s 6^th Congressional District in the U.S. Congress against opponent Gary Palmer.

This is Lester’s first time running for a position in office, and he took the time to speak with the Young Democrats club at the University of Montevallo to discuss his background and stance on various positions.

“Before I was a college professor, I practiced law as an assistant U.S. attorney and I was involved in politics back when I lived in Arkansas, so I had some experience,” said Lester. “So when this opportunity opened up, I really felt like it was important for the voters and the district to have a choice. Gary Palmer, my opponent was nominated with only 12 percent of the voters in the district and I felt like that he was more to the extreme and the voters needed a choice.”

Lester is currently teaching this semester, but does not have classes to teach on Fridays. This is when he spends the most time getting out in the district and meeting with different people to introduce himself and promote his campaign.

Where Mark feels like he and his opponent disagree the most is the issue of equality in the work place.

“The problem is that women aren’t being paid for the exact same work that men do,” said Lester. “In Alabama, the figure is that a woman makes 69 cents for every dollar a man makes, so I support any legislation that ensures that a woman be paid the same amount for the same work.”

With Election Day approaching Nov. 4, Lester said he wants to leave a final thought with citizens in the district.

“My key point is that this race isn’t about Democrats or Republicans,” said Lester. “I need Republican voters to consider me and I hope that they will look at the candidates, compare the candidates and I think when they do that they will see that I have a much more varied