The Democratic Party of Oregon has selected three nominees to fill the state Senate District 16 vacancy left by Betsy Johnson in her independent run for governor.

Democrats met Monday night at the Seaside Civic and Convention Center to make selections from a list of eight candidates. County commissioners within the district – Clatsop, Tillamook, Columbia, Washington and Multnomah – will interview the nominees and vote on who will fill the seat in a joint session on Jan. 14.

Melissa Busch, a home health nurse from Warren, was the first selected nominee, receiving 73% of the weighted vote in the first round of balloting.

“I think I have a unique understanding of the needs of the community because of the work that I do … and knowing that our previous Sen. Betsy Johnson is stepping away, either way, there is going to be change so it feels like a really natural time for some new energy in that seat,” Busch said.

Busch said she plans to run for the Senate seat this year.

Rachel Armitage, also from Warren, was selected as the second nominee, receiving 64% of the weighted vote in the second round of balloting.

Armitage worked as a legislative assistant in the 2016 and 2017 sessions, with a focus on jobs and housing.

“I have really focused on the people of this district who are really struggling. We’re headed into our third year of the pandemic. People have really critical needs. They need housing and jobs, and they need a Legislature that sees them and works for them. Because I have experience in Salem, I see myself as someone who can fill that need and I’d be really happy to do that,” Armitage said.

Nadia Gardner, the chairwoman of the Clatsop County Planning Commission, was selected as the third nominee, receiving 74% of the weighted vote in the third round of balloting.

Gardner, based out of Arch Cape, also serves on the Arch Cape Domestic Water Supply District Board and said she has done political work in support of Democratic candidates over the years.

“It’s an incredible opportunity to serve our communities and my state – the beautiful state of Oregon … I am just really honored by the faith that the communities have in me and the other candidates and I look forward to what’s to come,” Gardner said.

Tim Josi and Deborah Boone, two familiar political figures within the Democratic Party who have served in the state House, were candidates but finished last in voting.

“I would say part of it — Betsy was a political juggernaut, and the PCPs (precinct committee persons) as a whole haven’t always seen 100% eye-to-eye with Betsy,” Andy Davis, the chairman of Clatsop County Democrats, said of the selections. “So this was really an opportunity to go in a new, fresh direction, and I think they took that.”

The precinct committee persons had the option to send up to five nominees, along with the ability to rank them, but instead chose to send the three candidates unranked.

Johnson announced her decision to run for governor as an independent in October, then stepped down from her Senate seat in December to focus on the race. State Rep. Suzanne Weber, the Tillamook Republican who represents state House District 32, announced in October that she would run for Johnson’s seat.