1. Kamyar Cyrus Habib was born on August 22,1981 and is an American Jesuit, lawyer, and politician who served as both a state legislator from 2013 to 2017 and then as the 16th lieutenant governor of Washington from 2017 to 2021.
42 Facts About Cyrus Habib
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Cyrus Habib served as the state's acting governor for over six months, primarily in 2019 during the presidential campaign of Governor Jay Inslee.
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Cyrus Habib is the first Iranian American to hold statewide elected office in the United States.
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Cyrus Habib has been fully blind since he lost his eyesight to cancer at age eight.
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Cyrus Habib is the son of Superior Court Judge Susan Amini and engineer and investor Mo Habib.
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Cyrus Habib then earned a Juris Doctor from Yale Law School in 2009, where he served as an editor of the Yale Law Journal.
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Cyrus Habib was a member of the university's Grand Strategy program, led by John Lewis Gaddis, Charles Hill, and Paul Kennedy, and advocated for the redesign of US currency to allow the blind to distinguish denominations.
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Cyrus Habib was elected to represent Washington's 48th Legislative District, which includes Bellevue, Clyde Hill, Hunts Point, Kirkland, Medina, Redmond, and Yarrow Point.
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Cyrus Habib set a record for the most money ever raised in a State House race in Washington.
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Immediately after his election to the State Senate, Cyrus Habib was elected Senate Democratic Whip by his fellow Democrats, placing him in one of the top leadership positions in the State Senate.
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Shortly before the 2016 legislative session, Cyrus Habib announced his campaign for the independently elected office of Lieutenant Governor of Washington, challenging embattled twenty-year incumbent Brad Owen.
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Cyrus Habib went on to win the primary election against ten other candidates, including long-time State Senators Karen Fraser and Steve Hobbs.
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Cyrus Habib defeated Republican Marty McClendon by a nine-point margin in the November 2016 general election.
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Cyrus Habib set another record by raising $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.
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On February 22,2020, Cyrus Habib endorsed South Bend Mayor Pete Buttigieg for president in anticipation of primary balloting on March 10.
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On March 19,2020, Cyrus Habib announced he would not run for re-election, and that he had decided to end his political career and become a Catholic priest.
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Cyrus Habib had converted to Catholicism while studying at Oxford, and throughout his years in politics attended Mass at Seattle's St James Cathedral.
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Cyrus Habib 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.
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At the time, New York Times columnist Frank Bruni wrote that there was good reason to believe that, were he to stay in politics, Cyrus Habib would be elected Governor by the age of 40.
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Cyrus Habib entered the Jesuit novitiate in Culver City, California in the fall of 2020.
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Cyrus Habib made expanding equitable access to higher education and promoting job growth through international trade his office priorities.
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Cyrus Habib summited Mount Kilimanjaro in the summer of 2019 to help raise money for the program.
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In 2019, Cyrus Habib led a delegation to Dharamshala to meet with the Dalai Lama, where the two engaged in a televised dialogue as part of the establishment of Cyrus Habib's Compassion Scholars program in Washington State, which he launched to promote more ethical leadership training in public high schools.
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Cyrus Habib led a number of international trips on behalf of the state aimed at improving market access for Washington-based companies and encouraging foreign investment.
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Cyrus Habib introduced a number of laws related to technology and the innovation economy.
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Cyrus Habib authored the Washington Jobs Act of 2014, which allowed investor crowdfunding for the first time in Washington, so that entrepreneurs and small businesses could more easily obtain access to capital.
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Cyrus Habib authored legislation that created a statewide framework for vehicle for hire companies such as Uber and Lyft, and provided insurance minimums for drivers, passengers, and the public.
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Cyrus Habib's bill gained national recognition when included in a PBS report as one of the "Five Times the Daily Show Actually Influenced Policy".
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Cyrus Habib said that he was inspired by John Oliver's success in engaging the public on the topic of net neutrality, and the subsequent use of remote testimony submitted online to the Federal Communications Commission by his viewers.
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Cyrus Habib was the first Democratic state legislator to seek the impeachment of State Auditor Troy Kelley, who was facing more than a dozen federal criminal charges for tax evasion and fraud.
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Cyrus Habib was the prime sponsor of legislation in the State Senate to guarantee paid sick leave for nearly all Washington workers.
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Cyrus Habib was the Senate prime sponsor of the Washington Voting Rights Act, introduced and passed to prevent cities and counties from using racially polarized voting systems.
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Civil legal aid was a priority Cyrus Habib fought to keep funded in the state budget.
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Cyrus Habib argued that cuts in such funding will most severely impact families facing foreclosure, domestic violence, predatory lending, and those needing help accessing veteran and disability benefits.
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Cyrus Habib sponsored the Truth in Evictions Reporting Act to ensure that wrongfully evicted tenants will be able to have their rental history corrected.
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Cyrus Habib angered some Republicans when he proposed legislative language acknowledging that climate change is real and that human activity is a significant factor in its acceleration.
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Cyrus Habib authored legislation to give judges flexibility in reducing fines imposed for failure to pay bridge tolls.
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Cyrus Habib has been recognized as the first Iranian-American elected to state office in the United States, and as the first to serve in a statewide office.
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Cyrus Habib has been named a Rhodes Scholar, a Truman Scholar, a Soros Fellow, and a Rodel Fellow at the Aspen Institute.
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Cyrus Habib was named a Young Global Leader by the World Economic Forum.
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In 2016, Cyrus Habib was chosen by the leadership of the Democratic National Committee to serve as one of 25 appointed members of the party's Platform Committee.
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In 2014, Cyrus Habib was named one of the "40 Under 40 Political Rising Stars" by The Washington Post.