HUNTSVILLE, Alabama – U.S. Rep Mo Brooks has some competition in his bid for a third consecutive term.

The Alabama Secretary of State's office certified last week that Mark Bray, an aerospace engineer from Huntsville, has gathered enough signatures to run as an independent candidate for the 5th Congressional District seat.

To get on the Nov. 4 ballot, Bray was required to collect 6,886 signatures from current registered voters in the congressional district. He said he ended up with 7,763 signers following a three-month petition drive.

"I think people are legitimately hungry for something different," Bray told AL.com Monday. "They are hungry for real leadership, for someone to identify the real big problems that (Congress) has been unable to address for the last few decades."

Bray is employed by Jacobs Engineering, where he supports the Space Launch System that NASA is developing in Alabama. His 17-year aerospace career also includes jobs with Boeing and Qualis, plus work for the board that investigated the Space Shuttle Columbia disaster in 2003.

Brooks, R-Huntsville, captured 80 percent of the vote in his June 3 GOP primary race against Athens native Jerry Hill. He has more than $800,000 cash on hand for the fall campaign and no Democratic challenger.

Bray said he is offering himself as an alternative for voters who feel "disenfranchised" and "disengaged" by partisan politics in Washington.

"I am running for Congress and asking for 700,000 people to be my boss," he said. "I'm applying for a job, and I hope that this discussion is about who is best qualified to do the job and report back to the bosses in the 5th District."

The 5th Congressional District includes Madison, Limestone, Morgan, Jackson and Lauderdale counties.

Bray and several campaign volunteers launched the get-on-the-ballot petition drive in March, focusing on large gatherings including Panoply, the Spirit of America Festival in Decatur, WhistleStop and the Catfish Festival in Scottsboro.

There are no independent politicians currently in the U.S. House, and just two in the Senate: Angus King of Maine and Bernie Sanders of Vermont.

But Bray said House Majority Leader Eric Cantor's GOP primary loss to Dave Brat served notice that no one in Congress is unbeatable.

"The message was clearly sent that if you are an incumbent with a large pot of money, you shouldn't discount contenders," he said.

Updated at 1:34 p.m. to clarify that there are 700,000 residents of the 5th Congressional District.

Updated at 12:13 p.m. to correct that U.S. Rep. Mo Brooks beat Jerry Hill in the June 3 Republican primary.