Great news, sports fans. As depressingly futile as the Seattle City Council races have turned out to be—"Do They Have a Shot?" (Answer: fuck no)—that's not the only game in town this coming November. In fact, there are a couple of surprisingly competitive races for Port of Seattle and King County Council that could have you sitting on the edge of your election night seat... assuming you actually give a shit about the Port Commission or the King County Council.

Well, I do, which is why I'm actually getting a little excited about the possibility of defeating incumbent Republican council member Jane Hague in District No. 6, the suburban Eastside seat she's held since shortly after the Earth's crust cooled (i.e., since before I started paying attention to local politics). Democrats missed a golden opportunity to unseat a vulnerable Hague following her 2007 drunk driving arrest, largely due to the Dems failure to actually field a candidate (and no, Richard Pope doesn't count), but this year there are at least two viable challengers in the race.

The challenger who received the most initial buzz was Port of Seattle Commissioner John Creighton, who's actually proven a bit of a pleasant surprise on the Port Commission despite, you know, being a Republican. (I've never heard Creighton, who describes himself as a, "independent, progressive thinker," actually admit to being a Republican, but his campaign contribution record says otherwise.) Creighton would no doubt be an upgrade over Hague in terms of both ideology and work ethic, although as a candidate, he's not without a personal scandal of his own: a 2009 restraining order obtained by Creighton's ex-girlfriend that detailed creepy accusations of stalking.

But the challenger who's got me most excited is the most non-politician candidate you're ever likely to meet: the soft-spoken, thoughtful and serially-educated architect/urban planner/attorney Richard Mitchell. A former general counsel to Gov. Chris Gregoire, Mitchell's got a personal history that epitomizes the American dream. Born in London to parents who immigrated to England from Guyana and the West Indies, Mitchell and his family moved to Baltimore when he was 12, where his academic talents quickly earned him a ticket out of a substandard urban public school via a scholarship to an exclusive Maryland boarding school. Degrees from Cornell, the University of Michigan, and Syracuse University soon followed.

At last count Hague had raised $188K compared to $68K for Creighton and $61K for Mitchell, but after expenditures and outstanding debt are factored in, the cash-on-hand numbers are much closer: $83K, $35K, and $32K respectively. But as the only indisputable Democrat in the race, Mitchell is scooping up the Democratic endorsements, which should give him a leg up over Creighton in the August primary, assuming Mitchell continues to raise money. Regardless of who she faces in November, you can be damn sure Hague is worried.

Back at the Port of Seattle, an interesting contest is brewing in the race for Commissioner Position No. 5, where incumbent Bill Bryant could be facing a stiff challenge from Democratic activist Dean Willard, a former T-Mobile vice president who ran gamely in 2010 against incumbent Republican Rep. Glenn Anderson in the 5th Legislative District, only to lose to a fellow Democrat in the primary. "The issues really resonate with me," says Willard in explaining his decision to run. "The Commission is not meeting my expectations as a citizen of this county." Word on the street is that he's not alone in his disappointment, with a coalition of port reformers rumored to be planning to sink about $300K into the race on top of the $200-300K Willard says he plans to raise on his own. That should even things up against Bryant, who's already raised over $300K, and has about $250K on hand.

Yeah, I know the Port of Seattle and an Eastside King County Council seat aren't exactly the kind of high profile barn-burners that excite folks here in Seattle, but with the possible exception of Jean Godden's race against time, they're the most likely opportunity to watch an upset in the making. Tune in.