The Richmond City Council won’t ask candidates for its soon-to-be-vacant 7th District seat to pledge that they won’t seek election in November. The council discussed yesterday the interview process it will follow to appoint someone to replace Delores L. McQuinn, who is uncontested in today’s special election for the vacant 70th District seat in the Virginia House of Delegates.

The singing that broke out at Richmond City Hall yesterday might as well have come from the City Council and Mayor Dwight C. Jones.

One of the first assignments for the next Richmond City Council will likely be picking a replacement for one of its members. Council members will have 45 days to appoint a representative from the 7th District if longtime Councilwoman Delores L. McQuinn wins a Jan. 6 special election for a seat in the General Assembly. McQuinn is running unopposed in the House of Delegates’ 70th District after winning Saturday’s Democratic primary. The strongly Democratic district includes parts of the city’s East End, as well as eastern portions of Chesterfield and Henrico counties, and it’s currently represented by Mayor-elect Dwight Clinton Jones.

Carlos Brown, a corporate finance lawyer from Henrico County, will battle Richmond City Councilwoman Delores L. McQuinn for the Democratic nomination in the 70th House of Delegates District.