Cyrus Habib

Cyrus Habib
Official portrait, 2015
16th Lieutenant Governor of Washington
In office
January 11, 2017 – January 13, 2021
GovernorJay Inslee
Preceded byBrad Owen
Succeeded byDenny Heck
Member of the Washington Senate
from the 48th district
In office
January 12, 2015 – January 4, 2017
Preceded byRodney Tom
Succeeded byPatty Kuderer
Member of the Washington House of Representatives
from the 48th district
In office
January 14, 2013 – January 12, 2015
Preceded byDeborah Eddy
Succeeded byJoan McBride
Personal details
Born
Kamyar Cyrus Habib

(1981-08-22) August 22, 1981 (age 43)
Baltimore, Maryland, U.S.
Political partyDemocratic
Parents
EducationColumbia University (BA)
St John's College, Oxford (MLitt)
Yale University (JD)
WebsiteOfficial website

Kamyar Cyrus Habib SJ (born August 22, 1981) 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. He also served as the state's Acting Governor for over six months, primarily in 2019 during the presidential campaign of Governor Jay Inslee.[1] He is the first, and as yet only, Iranian American to hold statewide elected office in the United States.[2]

He has been fully blind since he lost his eyesight to cancer at age eight.[3] In March 2020, he announced plans to retire from politics at the end of his term and become a Jesuit priest within the Catholic Church.[4]

  1. ^ "Cyrus Habib from Legacy Washington" (PDF). Washington State Secretary of State Legacy Washington. Retrieved December 15, 2023.
  2. ^ Greenberg, Kalie (January 7, 2020). "'I'm Iranian-American': Washington Lt. Gov. Cyrus Habib reacts to reports of border detainment". King 5.
  3. ^ Cite error: The named reference PAAIA was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  4. ^ "Lt. Gov. Cyrus Habib: Why I am giving up elected office and joining the Jesuits". America Magazine. March 19, 2020. Retrieved September 17, 2020.