This time there’ll be no buffer between Carr (left end) and Holmes (right end)Because they were both assured of qualifying for the general, the City Attorney race between incumbent Tom Carr and his nemesis Pete Holmes didn’t get much ink this summer. But it should be plenty hot going forward. Carr is a complex and controversial figure (see Nina Shapiro’s profile of him) who’s drawn ire for everything from his support of car impound laws to his disastrous “Operation Sobering Thought.” Along with his campaign manager, Cindi Laws (whom he stole from Holmes) he’s also made the birthers-style claim that Holmes isn’t technically qualified for the ballot because his Office of Professional Accountability (OPA) work shouldn’t count as being a practicing attorney. For his part, Holmes angered police and city brass while head of the OPA review board (which handles complaints of police misconduct), and said of his time with the outfit that he found the city’s leadership (i.e. Carr) “[unwilling] to hear anything less than flattery. The public’s right to know was not favored by the city.”

These guys clearly dislike each other, and they’ll be disliking each other on the air today: KUOW’s “The Conversation” features a debate between the two (12 PM, listen online here.)