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Ronald L. Lester, a Democratic pollster based in Washington, DC, started collecting political experience at the young age of seventeen. In 1970, a high school classmate took Lester with him to the headquarters of Newark, New Jersey mayoral candidate Kenneth Gibson. After a round of routine canvassing and literature drops, Lester was hooked on politics. "That was my first campaign," recalls Lester, "I never thought it would lead to this, but it's been twenty-four years."
In his quarter of a century as a political operative, Lester has worked for a varied group of politicians including Jimmy Carter, Marion S. Barry, Sharon Pratt Kelly, Carol Moseley Braun, and most recently, Sheila Jackson Lee of Texas.
Lester continued his political involvement throughout his undergraduate career at Northeastern by complementing his course work in political science with numerous local campaigns including Jimmy Carter's Massachusetts effort in 1976.
Lester entered the Massachusetts Institute of Technology where he pursued a masters degree in city planning. Since MIT was research oriented, it was a perfect place for someone with Lester's bent to plow into survey research projects. After discovering his aptitude for polling, he decided to couple...