Red Level’s Mike Purnell is the only Covington County resident whose name is on the Democratic ballot this year, and one of a very few names appearing on the ballot in the second congressional district, which includes most of Southeast Alabama.

The Red Level mayor is a candidate for delegate to the Dem-ocratic National Convention, set for Charlotte, N.C., later this year.

A self-described “contrarian,” Purnell said he is seeking a trip to the DNC because he sees it as an opportunity. He’d like for the Obama administration, which has focused heavily on urban issues, to under the plights of very small towns in the United States.

Asked to define “contrarian,” he said “it’s the tale on a kite.”

“When the pendulum swings right, I go left,” he said. “When it swings left, I go right.”

While the president isn’t very popular in Alabama, Purnell said most people with whom he’s talked about his candidacy have been good-humored about it.

While municipal elections aren’t partisan, Purnell said he previously sought office as a Republican, when he opposed Seth Hamment in the House of Representatives race in 1978.

Alabama will send 41 total district-level, elected delegates to the convention in September. In the second congressional district, there will be three males and three females selected.