After more than 21/2 hours and seven rounds of voting, precinct people representing Democrats in District 16 selected three nominees to succeed Kelley Wirth in the state Legislature.

The names and accompanying paperwork of Sara Gelser, Robert “Bob” Conder and Tina C. Empol will be forwarded to the Oregon Secretary of State’s office.

Commissioners from Benton and Linn counties will select one of these three nominees to fill Wirth’s seat at 9 a.m. Tuesday.

Wirth, 40, informed the Secretary of State on Nov. 8 that she was resigning from the Legislature.

Earlier this month, Wirth entered a plea of not guilty to a charge of possessing methamphetamine. Police say they found meth in her vehicle after she was struck by a car driven by a woman who was angry at Wirth over an alleged relationship between the lawmaker and the woman’s husband, a janitor at the Capitol.

The driver, Lisa Temple, 23, is charged with attempted murder and is awaiting trial.

Police investigating the crash searched Wirth’s vehicle, which was parked in front of the state Capitol at the time of the crash.

In addition to the three selected nominees, Hundley Bergstad, Betty Griffiths and Jay Sexton were candidates.

There are 12,828 registered Democrats in District 16, all of whom live in Benton County. Eighty precinct people had 160 votes to cast on each ballot, and they could divide their votes however they chose among eligible candidates. To be awarded a slot as a nominee, a candidate needed at least 6,415 votes.

First, precinct people needed to decide whether to elect three, four or five nominees out of the six possible candidates.

After the assembly settled on three nominees, the candidates gave brief statements about their backgrounds and political platforms. Following these speeches, voting precinct people were given 15 minutes to ask questions of the candidates.

In the first round of voting, Gelser received the majority of the votes, earning the first nominee slot.

In the second round, no candidate received a majority of the votes. Hundley, the candidate with the fewest votes, was eliminated.

Again in the third and fourth rounds, no candidate received the required 6,415 votes. Sexton and Griffiths, respectively, were eliminated.

In the fifth ballot casting, Conder won the second nominee slot.

At this point, all candidates not yet appointed as nominees were again eligible for the third slot.

In the sixth vote, between Hundley, Sexton, Griffiths and Empol, Hundley was eliminated. Sexton then withdrew his name.

In the seventh vote, Empol beat Griffiths for the final nominee slot.

Mary Ann Albright can be reached at maryann.albright

@lee.net or 758-9518.