The King and Snohomish county councils have selected two state and city lawmakers to fill vacant state Senate and House seats in the 1st Legislative District.
At a joint meeting Monday, council members unanimously selected state Rep. Derek Stanford to fill the state Senate seat vacated by former state Sen. Gary Palumbo, who resigned in May to take a job in the private sector. Stanford will serve out the remainder of Palumbo’s term, which ends in 2020.
With the appointment, Stanford immediately resigned from his state House seat, leaving another open position in the 1st District.
The councils then selected Bothell Deputy Mayor Davina Duerr to fill Stanford’s seat in the House. Three councilmembers – Dave Upthegrove, Larry Gossett, and Pete von Reichbauer – opposed Duerr’s appointment, according to King County Councilmember Claudia Balducci.
Duerr will serve the remainder of Stanford’s term in the House, which ends in 2021.
Both county councils were required to approve the appointments, because the 1st Legislative District falls across both counties.
Stanford and Duerr were each part of a group of three candidates nominated for each seat by the Democratic precinct committee. Linda Tosti-Lane, an administrator with the Washington State Department of Children, Youth, and Families, was also nominated for the vacant Senate seat, activist Darshan Rauniyar was nominated for the House seat, and Hillary Moralez, chair of the Snohomish County Democratic Central Committee, was nominated for both positions.
