Former Mayor Adrian Fenty‘s old Ward 4 coordinator, Josh Lopez, says he’s submitted 3,000 signatures to the Board of Elections and Ethics to get his name on the special election for the at-large seat.

LL’s been off in babyland the last couple of weeks, but is pretty sure Lopez is the first at-large candidate to get his signatures in. Collecting a bunch of signatures isn’t a big deal, but it at least shows some level of energy and competency that not every would-be local elected official can muster. (LL won’t name names, but you know who you are.)

Does Lopez have a chance of beating presumed front-runner, Councilmember Sekou Biddle? LL thinks not, but did anyone think four months ago that Biddle had a chance of winning the D.C. Democratic State Committee’s election?

Lopez, whose recent employment includes a four-day stint in the lame duck Fenty administration and who helped run the write-in Fenty campaign, is casting himself as an political outsider who will watchdog the Vince Gray/Kwame Brown era of city government.

Regardless of his chances, Lopez will more than likely make the campaign a lot more interesting. He seems to be Public Enemy No. 1 among Gray’s supporters, earning his own Gray campaign video and being chased away from a couple of Gray’s townhall forums. On at least two occasions police were called to the forums because of alleged altercations between Gray supporters and Lopez.

But all that’s in the past. Lopez says he’s looking for support from both Fenty and Gray supporters, and says his youthful energy (he’s about to turn 27) is resonating well with voters. Asked if Fenty would be hitting the campaign trail on his behalf, Lopez says, “you have to ask him.” Anyone got an extra $20k?