Cyrus Habib

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.

Habib converted to the Roman Catholic faith while studying at Oxford, and throughout his years in politics attended Mass at Seattle's St. James Cathedral. He began considering becoming a priest in 2016 and was accepted by the Society of Jesus (Jesuits) in 2019, with his entry deferred until the end of his term as lieutenant governor. On March 19, 2020, he announced he would not run for re-election and he had decided to end his political career and become a Catholic priest. He wrote:

He plans to enter the Jesuit novitiate in Los Angeles in the fall of 2020.

In addition to his higher education programs, Habib created the leadership-oriented Boundless Washington program, which seeks to empower young people with disabilities through outdoor exploration and leadership training. He summited Mt. Kilimanjaro in the summer of 2019 to help raise money for the program.

In 2019, he served as co-chair of the Democratic National Lt. Governor’s Association and he continues to serve as a member of the Democratic National Committee.

In 2019, he was awarded the Helen Keller Achievement Award by the American Federation For the Blind.In 2020, the John F. Kennedy Library Foundation and The Institute of Politics at Harvard University presented him with the John F. Kennedy New Frontier Award for outstanding public service.

As lieutenant governor, Habib has made expanding equitable access to higher education and promoting job growth through international trade office priorities. In his first term, Habib established a number of college pathway programs for underserved and non-traditional student populations. In 2018, he founded Washington World Fellows, a global leadership program for high school students that includes a study abroad experience and two years of college preparation programming aimed at supporting first-generation college students. The same year, he initiated Complete Washington, a program focused on creating new high-demand degree pathways tailored to the needs of working adults.

In 2018, he attacked the idea that "college isn’t for everyone", calling it an "elitist" view, and said that "A failure to expand access to higher education will widen the gap between the fortunate few and the disenfranchised many." In 2020, his office introduced a legislative package focused on removing barriers in Washington state’s higher education system. It would require all school districts to share financial aid information with twelfth-grade students and their families, a bill that would create a single college application process for public four-year institutions, and legislation that would prevent institutions of higher education from denying students access to their transcripts as a means of debt collection.

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.

Habib was chosen by the leadership of the Democratic National Committee to serve as one of 25 appointed members of the party's 2016 Platform Committee.

Habib's 2015 bill to provide standard-issue ID cards to help exiting prison inmates with reentry into society has gained widespread support.

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.

Habib is the author of a number of laws related to technology and the innovation economy. He authored the Washington Jobs Act of 2014, which allows investor crowdfunding for the first time in Washington, so that entrepreneurs and small businesses can more easily obtain access to capital.

In 2014, Habib was named one of the "40 Under 40 Political Rising Stars" by the Washington Post. He was also named one of "12 State Legislators to Watch" by Governing Magazine. Seattle Magazine has named him one of the "most influential" people in the greater Seattle area.

During his career in state politics, Habib maintained a number of other affiliations. Beginning in 2013, he was Professor and Distinguished Lawmaker in Residence at the Seattle University School of Law, teaching upper-level courses and conducts research on issues at the convergence of technology and public policy.

Habib introduced legislation to allow the public to comment on legislative proposals by submitting video testimony filmed on a smart phone–the first such bill in the nation. Habib's bill gained national recognition when included in a PBS report as one of the “Five Times the Daily Show Actually Influenced Policy”. 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.

Since 2013, Habib has been Professor and Distinguished Lawmaker in Residence at the Seattle University School of Law, where he teaches upper-level courses and conducts research on issues at the convergence of technology and public policy.

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. 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.

Habib then earned a law degree 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 the Washington region's largest law firm, Perkins Coie, where from 2009 to 2017 he advised technology startups, and led the firm's civic and community initiatives.

As a Rhodes Scholar, Habib obtained a Master of Letters in postcolonial English literature from St John's College, Oxford, where he was an active member of the Oxford Union, and wrote his masters thesis on Ralph Ellison and Salman Rushdie. He was named a Soros Fellow in 2007.

In 2003 he received his B.A. from Columbia University, graduating Summa Cum Laude and Phi Beta Kappa, having double majored in English and Comparative Literature and Middle Eastern Studies. While an undergraduate, Habib worked in the New York City office of Senator Hillary Clinton. He was named a Truman Scholar in 2002.

Habib was born in Baltimore County, 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, where Habib graduated from the Bellevue International School in 1999.

Cyrus Habib (Persian: سیروس حبیب ‎; born August 22, 1981) is an American politician, lawyer, and educator who is the 16th Lieutenant Governor of Washington. He has been fully blind since he lost his eyesight to cancer at age eight. He is both the first and only Iranian-American official to hold statewide elected office in the United States. He has announced plans to end his political career and become a Jesuit priest.