Cyrus Habib

He was elected to represent Washington's 48th Legislative District, which includes Bellevue, Clyde Hill, Hunts Point, Kirkland, Medina, Redmond, and Yarrow Point.

Habib set a record for the most money ever raised (over $340,000) in a State House race in Washington.

In the House of Representatives, Habib was selected by his peers to serve as Vice Chair of the House Committee on Technology and Economic Development.

Kamyar Cyrus Habib (born August 22, 1981) is an American Jesuit, a former politician, a lawyer, and an educator who served as the 16th Lieutenant Governor of Washington from 2017 to 2021.

Habib graduated from the Bellevue International School in 1999.

He was named a Truman Scholar in 2002.

As a Rhodes Scholar, Habib obtained a Master of Letters in postcolonial English literature from St. John's College at the University of Oxford, where he was an active member of the Oxford Union, and wrote his masters thesis on Ralph Ellison and Salman Rushdie.

In 2003 he received his B.A. from Columbia University summa cum laude and Phi Beta Kappa, having double majored in English and Comparative Literature and Middle Eastern Studies as a student of Edward Said and Jacques Derrida.

While an undergraduate, Habib worked in the New York City office of Senator Hillary Clinton.

He was named a Soros Fellow in 2007.

Habib then earned a J.D. from Yale Law School in 2009, where he served as an editor of the Yale Law Journal.

He was a member of the university's Grand Strategy program, led by John Lewis Gaddis, Charles Hill, and Paul Kennedy.

While a law student, he advocated for the redesign of U.S. currency to allow the blind to distinguish denominations.

His roommate at Yale was Ronan Farrow.

After graduating from Yale, Habib practiced law at Washington State's largest law firm, Perkins Coie, where from 2009 to 2017 he advised technology startups, and led the firm's civic and community initiatives.

In 2012, Habib won a seat in the Washington House of Representatives, defeating two-term Redmond City Councilman Hank Myers and gaining 61% of the vote.

Beginning in 2013, he was Professor and Distinguished Lawmaker in Residence at the Seattle University School of Law, teaching upper-level courses.

A member of the Council on Foreign Relations, he has also served on the boards of a number of nonprofit organizations, including the Seattle Symphony, Seattle Children's Hospital, the 5th Avenue Theatre, the Bellevue College Foundation, and the Bellevue Downtown Association.

In 2014, Habib was elected to the Washington State Senate with 65% of the vote to succeed controversial Senate Majority Leader Rodney Tom as State Senator from the 48th Legislative District.

Immediately after his election to the State Senate, Habib was elected Senate Democratic Whip by his fellow Democrats, placing him in one of the top leadership positions in the State Senate.

Shortly before the 2016 legislative session, Habib announced his campaign for Lieutenant Governor of Washington, challenging embattled twenty-year incumbent Brad Owen.

Several months later, Owen, who had previously filed campaign paperwork, announced that he would in fact not seek reelection.

Habib went on to win the primary election against ten other candidates, including long-time State Senators Karen Fraser and Steve Hobbs.

Another senior legislator, Speaker pro tem of the Washington House of Representatives Jim Moeller was also a candidate but ultimately discontinued his campaign.

Habib defeated Republican Marty McClendon by a nine-point margin in the November 2016 general election.

He raised over $1.1 million, and was supported in his campaign by President Barack Obama, who endorsed him and recorded robocalls encouraging voters to cast their ballots for him.

As Lieutenant Governor, Habib also served as President of the Washington State Senate.

During his career in state politics, Habib maintained a number of other affiliations.

He began considering the priesthood in 2018 and was accepted by the Jesuits in 2019, with his entry deferred until the end of his term as lieutenant governor.

He served as the state's Acting Governor for over six months, primarily in 2019 during the presidential campaign of Governor Jay Inslee.

As of the time of his departure from office, he was the first and only Iranian American official to hold statewide elected office in the United States.

He has been fully blind since he lost his eyesight to cancer at age eight.

In March 2020, he announced plans to retire from politics and become a Jesuit priest.

Habib was born in Baltimore, Maryland, to parents who had previously immigrated to the U.S. from Iran.

A three-time cancer survivor, he lost his eyesight and became fully blind at age eight.

Shortly afterwards, his family moved to Bellevue, Washington.

On February 22, 2020, Habib endorsed South Bend Mayor Pete Buttigieg for president in anticipation of primary balloting on March 10.

He co-chaired the Western states effort for Buttigieg.

On March 19, 2020, Habib announced he would not run for re-election, and that he had decided to end his political career and become a Catholic priest.

He had converted to Catholicism while studying at Oxford, and throughout his years in politics attended Mass at Seattle's St. James Cathedral.