The Snohomish County Council unanimously adopted a motion naming John McCoy as the new state Senator for the 38th Legislative District on Nov. 27. He will fill a vacancy created by the resignation of former senator Nick Harper.

In accordance with state and county laws, the Council began the morning by conducting interviews with three candidates whose names were forwarded by the Snohomish County Democratic Central Committee — state representatives John McCoy and Mike Sells, and Kelly Wright.

Following the interviews, the Council met in a special session, during which McCoy was nominated and approved on a 5-0 vote to fill the vacancy, until a successor is elected and qualified in the 2014 general election.

The procedure to replace McCoy’s vacant House position will be the same as that taken for the state Senate appointment. Because it is a partisan position, state law requires that the party of the outgoing legislator holds a special legislative district caucus, in order to nominate a list of three candidates to fill that vacancy.

The Democratic Precinct Committee Officers for the 38th Legislative District will be conducting this special caucus on Tuesday, Dec. 10, at 7 p.m. to nominate three names from among the potential candidates. That recommended list, given in the order of their vote count totals, will be considered by the general body of the Snohomish County Democratic Central Committee, made up of Precinct Committee Officers from the entire county, who are scheduled to meet that same night.

The county Democrats will vote and provide this list of three candidates to the County Council in the order of their vote totals, after which the Council is scheduled to interview those three candidates on Monday, Dec. 16, at 1:30 p.m. in the Jackson Board Room on the eighth floor of the Admin East building on the county campus, with action likely to follow.