BIOGRAPHY

Dr. Albert Chester, Democrat for Florida’s 5th Congressional District

Large and spread out though it may be, Dr. Albert D. Chester considers all of District 5 “home.” He is a pharmacist, educator and small business owner whose life experiences ignited within him a burning desire to bring better health to our communities – physical health, economic health, environmental health, health holistically. He has seen the heartbreak caused by a broken system that works for special interests at the expense of people’s lives. He is District 5’s native son with the voice, vision, vigor and vitality to advocate our interests in Congress and deliver real results.

Dr. Albert D. Chester (who prefers to be called “Albert”) has roots in Jacksonville that run deep, as far back as the late 1800s with the enterprising Joseph H. Blodgett, architect of historic homes in the Sugar Hill neighborhood, some of which still stand along Myrtle Avenue. Yet, as the proud son of Albert and Karen Chester – him being FAMU’s National Championship quarterback, and her, Miss FAMU – Tallahassee is a permanent fixture of Albert’s upbringing.  Albert grew up with a sense of community and remembers being surrounded by so many positive role models – many being famous athletes contemporary to his father – Bob Hayes, Al Denson,
Curtis Miranda and Derrick Gaffney, to name a few. An athlete himself, Albert was ranked one of the top football players in the state and nation as quarterback at Episcopal High School. He continued to lead as the starting QB at Florida A&M University, where he graduated with his Doctor of Pharmacy degree in 2009.

While Dr. Chester grew New Town Pharmacy to gain more than 1500 patients in just a year, he credits the major successes of the pharmacy as: filling a void in the community to provide adequate healthcare; developing intimate relationships with customers; and representing a sense of pride in the area. The challenges he faced, however, called for immediate action to address the life and death decisions his patients encounter every day. For every patient who needed life-saving medication but couldn’t afford the price tag set by the billion-dollar-profit providers, Dr. Chester was reminded of how broken our system is. For every sick person who couldn’t get better because their home was on a toxic Brownfield site or because they had poor-quality drinking water, Dr. Chester was reminded of how broken our system is. For every loss he took on life-saving medicine and for all the profits he refused to take by pushing opioids, Dr. Chester was reminded of how broken our system is. As a leader and advocate for those suffering, Dr. Chester made the tough decision to act on the disparities he saw up close. Having a buyer for the pharmacy, Dr. Chester redirected his medical expertise and his connection with the people into a charge to run for United States Congress.

As our representative in Congress, Dr. Chester will not be like the career politicians of which Washington D.C. already has too many. He will be visible in the community all the time – not just around election time. He knows the issues and how they affect people’s lives and will advocate for the interests of real people – not the wishes of special interests. He will work to build local Democratic power by working with Democratic Party groups throughout District 5 – not work to build his own power by allying with Republicans.

Dr. Albert D. Chester is married to Dr. Melissa Noland-Chester. They have two sons; Aiden, 9, and Alex, 7. Running for Congress sets an example of what Dr.’s Chester and Chester have worked to instill in their two sons: to serve others, serve the community, be willing to fix problems, and always answer God’s calling.