The King County Republican Party selected Dino Rossi, Toby Nixon and Joel Hussey as candidates to replace the late Sen. Andy Hill, the party announced in a press release Monday.

Hill died earlier this month after a battle with lung cancer.

The three candidates were selected by 45th District precinct officers and King County GOP officials during a special meeting Saturday in Woodinville.

Rossi, former state senator and gubernatorial candidate, is now a resident of the 45th District following redistricting in 2010. Nixon, a Kirkland City Council member, is a former state representative from the 45th District and a Microsoft senior program manager. Hussey is a former state representative candidate, school board president and owner of an aircraft leasing company.

Candidates were selected in numerical order with Rossi named to the first position followed in order by Nixon and Hussey.

“I am proud of these three outstanding individuals,” King County GOP Chairman Lori Sotelo said in the press release. “Any one of them would make a great legislator. I am hoping the King County Council will follow the wishes of Sen. Hill’s district precinct officers and appoint their first choice, Dino Rossi. He is uniquely qualified, as a former senator and budget chair, to make an enormous contribution on behalf of his constituents this year.”

Sotelo added that the King County Republican committee “entrusts the King County Council to make a swift decision regarding the appointment in honor of the dedicated public servant, Sen. Andy Hill.”

Sammamish Deputy Mayor Ramiro Valderrama, a 2016 45th District state representative candidate, was nominated as well by precinct officers but declined the nomination citing his desire “to continue my work on behalf of the citizens of Sammamish and to allow the process to be unified moving forward.”

Ramiro told the Reporter he had “profound gratitude” for the precinct officers who showed their support in their nomination of him.

“For me, it was an honor to be considered in the same breath as Sen. Andy Hill and Dino Rossi,” Valderrama said. “Both were instrumental in the modern history of the state.”

The King County Council now has 60 days to choose from among the three nominees and name the new interim senator for the 45th District, after an ordinance is drafted and received by the council. The 2017 legislative session begins Jan. 9.