Greg Nickels, barring some horrible public relations fiasco/scandal/nightmarish revelation, will most likely be re-elected come November 8 as the leader of the Emerald City.

Doesn’t that strike anyone as a little anticlimactic?

Now, I’m from way out in Snoqualmie, at the very easterly edge of King County, so this is just a spectator sport for me. But since I could very well be living nearer my university come this time next election, I do have some roundabout interest in how it all plays out.

Furthermore, Seattle’s a little unusual this year among major cities with its dearth of candidates to oppose the status quo. I mean, come on, lots of other cities smaller than Seattle are having far more exciting races, including Saint Paul, Minn., and Albuquerque, N.M.

But all is not lost! There is one person who’s actually running some sort of campaign in defiance of Mayor Nickel’s well-oiled re-election machine.

A former University of Washington professor, historian and scholar, Al Runte, got some 20,949 votes, or about 22% of the total, in last month’s primary. By comparison, Mayor Nickels got some 54,449 votes, or about 57.2% of the total. Even if all the other five minor candidates’ supporters all flew to Runte’s banner, his election to the head of city hall is still a long shot.

But who the heck is he, really? He’s definitely an unlikely candidate, having never run for office before. But what does he stand for (or on, for that matter)?

Several Washington bloggers, especially amongst my lefty friends, have tried, actually quite successfully, to answer that question.

Very much a progressive-style Democrat, Dr. Runte is basically upset, for various and sundry reasons, at how our current mayor runs the city, including how the Monorail mess is going down. He’s an environmentalist, and decidedly not a fan of development.

The question, however, still remains. Why isn’t there a bigger name ready to duke it out with the incumbent this year?

Maybe some bonafide (in Latin, bona fides: “in good faith”) Seattleite out there wants to weigh in for us?

-Will