SEATTLE – In the race for King County Executive, it's a full-fledged battle between Democrat Ron Sims and Republican David Irons. But on your ballot there's another choice – Green Party candidate Gentry Lange, who hasn't gotten much publicity yet.

A recent KING 5 poll has found Sims and Irons in a dead heat, but Lange came away with 7 percent of the vote.

You might run into him at an open house. Gentry Lange is 30 years old, a real estate agent, and the Green Party's candidate for King County Executive.

"Through politics you're networking all the time, and your job in real estate, your number one in real estate is networking," he said.

He grew up in Illinois, came to the University of Washington as a student thinking he'd go into oceanography. But a bad lab incident with toxic chemicals made him think twice about science.

"Something absorbed into my skin, my arm went white, my lips went white," he recalled.

Lange decided he was more interested in political science. After graduation he took off and spent some time snowboarding, then came back and spent a few years working at high-tech companies.

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Gentry Lange got active in voting issues and has become a vocal critic of King County Elections.

He started getting active in voting issues and has become a vocal critic of King County Elections.

"The number-one thing to do in the Elections is to kick the corporations out of the system," he said.

Lange says the county should be processing ballots itself, not subcontracting the work.

But is Lange really the man to turn around the county elections division? Does he have the experience of running a government on a day-to-day basis?

"Obviously, I don't," he said. "The beauty of the American political system is that people with new ideas can get into office and shake things up."

Transportation is his other big issue. He's against high-cost projects favoring ideas like bus-only lanes.

On the other issues of the day:

"Southwest Airlines was a ridiculous proposal," he said.

He's not shy about speaking out including his criticism of the Critical Areas Ordinance, which he says was well-intentioned, but went too far.

"The idea that people are just going to inherently destroy the environment because they own land is just not the case I see," he said.

With Republican David Irons and Democrat Ron Sims in a dead heat, question is: What impact might Lange's candidacy have? Is he taking away votes from Sims?

Lange insists he's not.

"They're not going back, they weren't going back to Ron before anybody knew about me, and now they have an option that is not a Republican candidate," he said. "They're voting for me when they know about me."

Lange is equally critical of Democrats and Republicans. He says he's working just as hard to get David Irons supporters into his camp.