Alan LobdellLike all of us covering the race to replace Ron Sims, the Seattle Times’ Keith Ervin got Dow Constantine’s press release about his upcoming rock ‘n vote fest at the Crocodile Cafe. For reasons I can’t begin to imagine, Ervin did not take the tack of imagining Larry Phillips in skinny jeans, but at the end of his post, he mentioned everyone in the race thus far–State Sen. Fred Jarrett, former KIRO anchor Susan Hutchison, and engineer Alan Lobdell. Wait… who?Ashamed that I’d missed some big announcement, I scrambled to find out who this new challenger is. Lobdell, who filed to run on March 30, didn’t immediately respond to messages left via phone and e-mail. But in 2001, he ran against Sims as a Republican. According to the voter guide that year (where he frequently uses all caps in his entry) Lobdell spent 27 years as a civil engineer and project manager before deciding to make the jump to politics. The former vet promised to “make logical, practical DECISIONS that uphold our CONSITUTIONAL RIGHTS, respect our RELIGIOUS FREEDOMS, protect our ENVIRONMENT, and insure careful use of our PUBLIC FUNDS.”He received nearly 12 percent of the vote in the 2001 primary. Fellow Republican Santos Contreras took 25 percent and earned a trip the November general. According to the PDC, this is his first return to the political arena since his loss that year.