When only a meager 23 percent of the city’s electorate approves of the job Mayor Mike McGinn is doing, it is understandable that money for a possible bid for re-election might be hard to come by. As of November 30, Seattle’s bike-loving, tunnel-hating chief executive had raised a total of $31,709 and his cash on hand sat at $2,258, according to campaign financial reports filed with the Seattle Ethics and Elections Commission.

By contrast, ex-Mayor Greg Nickels, at this point in his first term (December 2003) and nearly two years removed from seeking re-election in 2005, had raised $103,555 and had more than $70,000 in his war chest.

In 2009, Nickels raised nearly $600,000 in his bid for a third term, almost three times as much as McGinn, but finished third in the August primary. It is interesting to recall just how close that election was: McGinn collected 27.71 percent of the vote to Joe Mallahan’s 26.88 percent and Nickels’ 25.36 percent.

It’s anyone’s guess as to how many candidates will seek to bring down McGinn in 2013. The most frequently named potential contenders include Seattle Councilmember Tim Burgess and state Sen. Ed Murray, who considered a write-in candidacy after voters rejected Nickels.