It’s not particularly relevant, but it’s interesting none the less — Jacque Patterson spent 14 years in active-duty military service, escorting chaplains to the front line so they could perform religious services. “I’m real good, to say the least,” Patterson told DCist last week, referring to his ability to handle M-16s and 9mm handguns.

That’s not the sort of thing I felt inclined to question.

Patterson is one of 10 candidates vying for the seat once held by D.C. Council Chair Kwame Brown, and he’s looking to translate an extensive and diverse resume into a win on April 26. Beyond his military service, Patterson has worked for the District government under Mayor Anthony Williams, served four terms on a Ward 8 ANC and sat on the Bicycle Advisory Council, the Historic Preservation Review Board and the Board of Directors of the D.C. Housing Finance Agency for Affordable Housing. Patterson currently serves as president of the Ward 8 Democrats and a managing director at the Federal City Council.

Those connections are certainly worth something — through January 31, Patterson had raised $20,000, second only to Interim Councilmember Sekou Biddle. Regardless, he’s also been mired in an internal squabble with the D.C. Democratic State Committee, of which he’s a member, over the organization’s not-so-by-the-book endorsement of Biddle.

In an interview last week across the street from his Georgia Avenue campaign headquarters, Patterson admitted that while “bad blood” remained between him and some members of the city’s Democratic Party, he was still moving forward and doubling down on taking his message to voters.

“The budgetary issues are the biggest thing across the board,” said Patterson, referring to the unenviable task that whoever wins the special election will have to handle — participating in Council debates over a budget that’s expected to face a $600 million hole in 2012. “It talks about what programs may be cut deepest, how much we’ll be funding education, what we can afford to cut and what we can’t. I think that’s the major issue.”