Why is so much attention suddenly being paid to the races for Port Commissioner? It used to be that running for the port commission guaranteed a candidate obscurity, both during and after the race—along with a few fun "business" junkets to foreign locales in the event of victory, and a paltry $14,000 salary to make jokes about over exotic cocktails.

But now the port races are getting a rare moment in the local media spotlight, with columnists weighing in on their importance and local radio stations giving the mic to candidates (even if KUOW still couldn't get reform candidate Jack Jolley's name right, calling him "Rich"). Many things are aligning to make the port seem suddenly sexy, but mainly it's that this year's races are upending the conventional wisdom that elections come and go, but the port commission never changes. For a long time it was thought that no matter which faces were elected to the commission, the port would remain the same, a rubber-stamp parliament for business and shipping interests with the unusual power to unilaterally levy a $60 million tax on King County residents—or, if you prefer the lexicon of those in the business and shipping community, the port would remain "stable."

"For the first time ever," says Alec Fisken, a "dissident" port commissioner who was elected in 2003, "there's a real likelihood of a dramatic change in the composition of the board."

That's because three seats on the five-person board are open, and no candidate (not even the two incumbents who are running for reelection) seems to have a lock on any of the seats. With the three seats essentially up for grabs, and with Fisken already on the board, it's likely that when the election is over there will be a new majority at the Port Commission, one that won't be shy to buck the status quo.

That's a big deal, because the port is a huge (if often overlooked) local player, with its fingers in everything from the third runway at Sea-Tac Airport to debates over development on the waterfront (maritime use vs. real estate development vs. biotech), blue-collar job creation, and Seattle's loss of market share to other West Coast ports. It also has the rare power to raise and lower a special port-funding property tax on King County residents, a tax that has gone up considerably in recent years, now bringing the port double the money ($60 million annually) that it used to.

This tax, and how much of it the port really needs, is a central issue in the campaign. Jolley, the former Microsoft money manager who seems to have a good shot at unseating status-quo incumbent Commissioner Pat Davis, believes that if managed properly, the port could do away with the tax levy completely—a strong indictment of business as usual at the port, since Jolley's belief basically means he thinks the port is wasting $60 million annually.

"I think, fundamentally, that the port is failing in its mission," Jolley says.

Port defenders, including the pro-Davis group Citizens for a Healthy Economy, point to a need for—you guessed it—stability, so as not to upset the billions of dollars the port and its activities pump into the local economy each year, and the more than 160,000 port-related jobs. But the fact that Citizens for a Healthy Economy formed this year and has so far raised close to $100,000 from business and shipping interests—an unheard of action, and an unheard of amount, for a PAC in a port race—shows that it's not just the reformers who sense a change may be coming. (Citizens for a Healthy Economy has dumped $10,000 into Davis's campaign so far.)

The Jolley-Davis match-up has drawn the most attention because it's the one that breaks down most easily into a pro- and anti-establishment battle. But the other races are notable, if only for their lack of a strong status-quo candidate, which means that no matter who wins, the person elected could align with a new reform-minded majority on the port commission. In the second race, liberal incumbent Lawrence Molloy faces John Creighton, a slightly more conservative challenger who nevertheless has port reform at the center of his campaign platform. And in the wide-open third race—incumbent Paige Miller is leaving in order to run for city council—the leading candidates, Rich Berkowitz and Peter Coates, are both reformers with their roots in labor as opposed to big business.

Also increasing the importance of this year's races is another port-shaping decision at the top of the agenda for the newly elected commission: whom to hire to replace powerful port president Mick Dinsmore, who is expected to retire in the near future.

eli@thestranger.com