And we thought this was going to be a boring election cycle in Patterson.

There may be nothing on the ballot for locals to get fired up about on Nov. 3, but there will likely be a special election shortly thereafter that will more than hold our interest.

The Del Puerto Health Center’s proposed move to the Keystone Pacific Business Park seems destined to go before voters in the not-too-distant future. There are only two things that can stop it, ultimately:

• The group spearheading the campaign could fail to get signatures from 10 percent of the registered voters in Patterson, which would be a shock.

• Or, the Patterson City Council could vote to adopt the initiative itself. This seems unlikely, as it would make the council appear as though it was caving to the pressure of publicity by reversing its earlier decision, while also setting the precedent that simply threatening to put something to a vote is enough to force the council’s hand.

All signs point to this thing going to ballot — and given the players involved, we fully expect an entertaining battle.

It’s interesting the way this has turned out, isn’t it? Two recent mayoral candidates — Kathy Wright and Luis Molina — are spearheading the campaign to get the health center nice new digs on the western side of town.

And if you’re counting, that’s two recent mayoral candidates who both ran spirited races, lost after campaigns that were not short on controversy and have since had a hard time, for various reasons, staying relevant in local politics.

Regardless of their true motivations — on which we will not speculate — this is an opportunity for Wright and Molina to be on the winning side of what could be a very popular victory, should Keystone and the health care district ultimately get their way.

Could a win for the health center be the springboard that launches Wright and Molina back into the local political scene? Let’s just say we wouldn’t be surprised.

On the other side of the issue is John Ramos, an influential local developer and the health center’s landlord. Ramos brought up the zoning issue that stopped the health center’s move when Mayor Becky Campo — Molina’s opponent last year — and the council supported Ramos’ claim and nixed the move.

Councilwoman Annette Smith has already expressed anger that Keystone and the health care district would go over the council’s heads and straight to the ballot on this issue. We’d expect Campo to follow suit — though she has surprised us before — and if she does, it could set up a heavyweight showdown that could rival either of the aforementioned mayoral races.

Let’s just hope they all keep their hits above the belt. The national health care-related discussion has turned embarrassingly ugly. We don’t need anything like that here.