Korell was born in Portland, Oregon, the son of Charles H. and Frances Barrol Korrell; his father was a Danish immigrant.

First, the Wall Street crash of 1929 had made a difficult environment for incumbents in general and for Republicans in particular.

George W. Joseph had won the Republican gubernatorial primary running on a populist message that included public development of hydroelectric power along the Columbia River.

But Joseph died prior to the general election, and party leaders chose Phil Metschan, Jr., who opposed public power utilities.

[6][7] Amid all this turmoil, Korell lost to Democrat Charles H. Martin by a margin of 55% to 40%.