State Rep. O'Ban chosen to fill seat of the late state Sen. Carrell
Steve O'Ban
TACOMA -- The Pierce County Council voted Tuesday to appoint state Rep. Steve O'Ban, R-University Place, to fill the state Senate seat in the 28th Legislative District of Mike Carrell, R-Lakewood, who died last week.
Local Republican Party activists had recommended former Pierce County Councilman Dick Muri to fill Carrell's seat. But the county council voted 4-3 against the Muri nomination and then voted unanimously for O'Ban.
O'Ban will fill Carrell’s seat until November 2014, when a special election for the 28th District Senate seat will be held. The winner of that election will serve the final two years of Carrell's four-year term. The 28th District Senate seat will be up for election again in November 2016.
Carrell, who had served in the state Legislature for 19 years, died last Wednesday of complications from the pre-cancer condition myelodysplastic syndrome, or MDS. He was 69.