King County Executive

The King County executive is the elected county executive of King County, Washington. The office was established with the implementation of the Home Rule Charter for King County on November 5, 1968. Previously the powers of the county executive were vested in a three-member county commission, which with the implementation of the Home Rule Charter in 1969 ceased to exist. The county executive is elected every four years and the office is nonpartisan.

King County Executive
Incumbent Dow Constantine since November 24, 2009
Appointer	Electorate Metropolitan King County Council (unexpired terms)
Term length	4 years
Inaugural holder	John Spellman
Formation	5 November 1968 (charter approved) 1 May 1969 (charter took effect)
Salary	$248,148 (2021)
Website	King County Executive

The first county executive was John Spellman, from 1969 to 1981. The current executive is Dow Constantine, elected to replace Ron Sims since he resigned to become Deputy Secretary of Housing and Urban Development in the Obama administration on May 8, 2009.

List of executives

Order	King County Executive		Party	Took office	Left office	Terms	Notes
1		John Spellman	Republican	May 1, 1969	January 14, 1981	3+	Resigned to serve as Governor of Washington
2		Ron Dunlap	Republican	January 14, 1981	November 18, 1981	<1
3		Randy Revelle	Democratic	November 18, 1981	January 1, 1986	1
4		Tim Hill	Republican	January 1, 1986	January 4, 1994	2
5		Gary Locke	Democratic	January 4, 1994	January 15, 1997	<1	Resigned to serve as Governor of Washington
6		Ron Sims	Democratic	January 15, 1997	May 8, 2009	2+	Resigned to serve as Deputy Secretary of Housing and Urban Development
7		Kurt Triplett	Democratic	May 8, 2009	November 24, 2009	<1
8		Dow Constantine	Democratic	November 24, 2009	Incumbent	4+

Notes

See also

• Pierce County Executive
• Snohomish County Executive
• Whatcom County Executive

External links

• King County Executive