1991 Snohomish County Executive election

1991 Snohomish County Executive election
	November 5, 1991
County Executive before election; Willis Tucker; Democratic	Elected County Executive ; Bob Drewel; Democratic

The 1991 Snohomish County Executive election took place on November 5, 1991, to elect the county executive of Snohomish County, Washington. Incumbent Democratic County Executive Willis Tucker declined to run for re-election to a fourth term.^[1]

Four candidates ran to succeed Tucker: Democrats Bob Drewel, the President of Everett Community College, and farmer Bill Patrick, and Republicans Cliff Bailey, a State Senator, and Doug Smith, an attorney. In the blanket primary election, Drewel and Bailey won their parties' nominations by wide margins. Drewel received 34 percent of the vote to Patrick's 12 percent, and Bailey won 33 percent to Smith's 21 percent.^[2] However, the relatively even totals for Democratic and Republican candidates forecasted a close general election.^[3]

In the general election, Drewel significantly outraised Bailey, in part supported by campaign contributions from local developers.^[4] Drewel ultimately defeated Bailey, winning 53 percent of the vote.^[5]

Primary election

Candidates

Bob Drewel, President of Everett Community College (Democratic)^[6]
Cliff Bailey, State Senator (Republican)^[7]
Doug Smith, lawyer (Republican)^[8]
Bill Patrick, farmer (Democratic)^[9]

Declined

Bill Brubaker, County Councilman^[10]
Willis Tucker, incumbent County Executive^[1]

Results

Blanket primary results^[11]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Bob Drewel	15,584	33.73%
	Republican	Cliff Bailey	15,246	33.00%
	Republican	Doug Smith	9,658	20.90%
	Democratic	Bill (Hardware) Patrick	5,713	12.37%
Total votes			46,201	100.00%

General election

Results

1991 Snohomish County Executive election^[12]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Bob Drewel	69,435	52.93%
	Republican	Cliff Bailey	61,759	47.07%
Total votes			131,194	100.00%
	Democratic hold

References

^ ^a ^b Muhlstein, Jim (December 16, 1991). "Time to go for Tucker". The Everett Herald. p. 1A. Retrieved July 31, 2025 – via Newspapers.com.
^ Muhlstein, Jim (September 18, 1991). "Drewel, Bailey top executive race". The Everett Herald. p. 1A. Retrieved July 31, 2025 – via Newspapers.com.
^ Muhlstein, Jim (September 22, 1991). "Executive race accelerating". The Everett Herald. p. 1B. Retrieved July 31, 2025 – via Newspapers.com.
^ Muhlstein, Jim; North, Scott (November 3, 1991). "Developer money goes to Drewel". The Everett Herald. p. 1A. Retrieved July 31, 2025 – via Newspapers.com.
^ Muhlstein, Jim (November 6, 1991). "Executive race goes to Drewel". The Everett Herald. p. 1A. Retrieved July 31, 2025 – via Newspapers.com.
^ Muhlstein, Jim (April 24, 1991). "EvCC president Bob Drewel says he'll run for county executive post". The Everett Herald. p. 2B. Retrieved July 31, 2025 – via Newspapers.com.
^ Muhlstein, Jim (April 30, 1991). "It's official: Bailey wants county exec job". The Everett Herald. p. 2B. Retrieved July 31, 2025 – via Newspapers.com.
^ "Area lawyer to run for executive". The Everett Herald. July 18, 1991. p. 2B. Retrieved July 31, 2025 – via Newspapers.com.
^ Muhlstein, Jim (September 9, 1991). "Bill Patrick says he's more than a gadfly for the county". The Everett Herald. p. 1B. Retrieved July 31, 2025 – via Newspapers.com.
^ Muhlstein, Jim (June 1, 1990). "Brubaker won't run for executive". The Everett Herald. p. 3B. Retrieved July 31, 2025 – via Newspapers.com.
^ "FINAL OFFICIAL ELECTION CANVASS". Snohomish County Auditor. Retrieved July 31, 2025.
^ "SNOHOMISH COUNTY, WA - GENERAL ELECTION - NOVEMBER 3, 1991". Snohomish County Auditor. Retrieved July 31, 2025.

[time_to_go-1] Muhlstein, Jim (December 16, 1991). "Time to go for Tucker". The Everett Herald. p. 1A. Retrieved July 31, 2025 – via Newspapers.com.

[2] Muhlstein, Jim (September 18, 1991). "Drewel, Bailey top executive race". The Everett Herald. p. 1A. Retrieved July 31, 2025 – via Newspapers.com.

[3] Muhlstein, Jim (September 22, 1991). "Executive race accelerating". The Everett Herald. p. 1B. Retrieved July 31, 2025 – via Newspapers.com.

[4] Muhlstein, Jim; North, Scott (November 3, 1991). "Developer money goes to Drewel". The Everett Herald. p. 1A. Retrieved July 31, 2025 – via Newspapers.com.

[5] Muhlstein, Jim (November 6, 1991). "Executive race goes to Drewel". The Everett Herald. p. 1A. Retrieved July 31, 2025 – via Newspapers.com.

[6] Muhlstein, Jim (April 24, 1991). "EvCC president Bob Drewel says he'll run for county executive post". The Everett Herald. p. 2B. Retrieved July 31, 2025 – via Newspapers.com.

[7] Muhlstein, Jim (April 30, 1991). "It's official: Bailey wants county exec job". The Everett Herald. p. 2B. Retrieved July 31, 2025 – via Newspapers.com.

[8] "Area lawyer to run for executive". The Everett Herald. July 18, 1991. p. 2B. Retrieved July 31, 2025 – via Newspapers.com.

[9] Muhlstein, Jim (September 9, 1991). "Bill Patrick says he's more than a gadfly for the county". The Everett Herald. p. 1B. Retrieved July 31, 2025 – via Newspapers.com.

[10] Muhlstein, Jim (June 1, 1990). "Brubaker won't run for executive". The Everett Herald. p. 3B. Retrieved July 31, 2025 – via Newspapers.com.

[11] "FINAL OFFICIAL ELECTION CANVASS". Snohomish County Auditor. Retrieved July 31, 2025.

[12] "SNOHOMISH COUNTY, WA - GENERAL ELECTION - NOVEMBER 3, 1991". Snohomish County Auditor. Retrieved July 31, 2025.

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