Biography
36th Legislative District
Sen. Reuven Carlyle represents Washington’s 36th Legislative District (including the Northwest Seattle neighborhoods of South Lake Union, Belltown, Ballard, Queen Anne, Greenwood and Magnolia) in the State Senate. The district is home to the iconic Space Needle as well as the global headquarters of Amazon, Expedia, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, PATH and other organizations.
Carlyle chairs the Senate Environment, Energy & Technology (EET) Committee and serves on the Senate Ways & Means and Rules committees. As chair, he was lead sponsor of the historic Climate Commitment Act, making Washington the second state in the nation to create an economy-wide cap and invest program to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. He also sponsored the Washington Clean Transformation Act, moving the state’s electric utilities completely off coal by 2025 and to 100-percent clean and renewable energy by 2045. Reuven led passage other key climate elements through the Senate, including a Clean Fuel Standard, clean buildings legislation, and innovative environmental justice measures. The expansive suite of legislation passed from 2019-2021 led national observers to proclaim Washington as the state with the “nation’s most ambitious climate policy.”
Reuven has led efforts to enact state-level consumer privacy protection measures to strengthen consumer access and control over personal data held by companies and the government. In addition to consumer data privacy, Reuven’s efforts in tech policy include regulation of facial recognition and other AI technologies, as well as net neutrality and legislation to expand broadband access.
Governing Magazine previously named Reuven “one of 12 legislators to watch” and he has been a leading voice in the Legislature for meaningful tax transparency and accountability, responsible gun safety laws, higher education, foster youth, women’s reproductive health services, bold environmental and energy strategies, and more. He also is a long-time champion of removing the death penalty from Washington law.
Reuven served in the state House of Representatives from 2009-2016 before being elected to the Senate. He served as chair of the House Finance Committee and as a budget writer, and passed sweeping legislation ensuring open transparency of the value of tax preferences.
Prior to Reuven’s election to the state House, Gov. Chris Gregoire in 2004 appointed him to the Washington State Board for Community and Technical Colleges. In 2007, as a citizen activist, he crafted legislation that was enacted as the Passport to College Promise, a scholarship program for foster youth. He also was a citizen co-founder of the Seattle/King County Chapter of City Year, a national AmeriCorps program.
Professionally, Reuven is a serial entrepreneur providing strategic business development services to bring advanced solutions to highly competitive global markets. He has held senior business development, board of director and advisory roles for McCaw Cellular Communications, AT&T Wireless, Xypoint Corp., AirSage, Twisted Pair Solutions, Synapse Product Development and other firms.
Reuven grew up in Bellingham and his interest in government developed while he served as a teenage page in Congress. He served as a page for two years in the U.S. Senate for Senators Warren Magnuson and Henry “Scoop” Jackson, and one year in the House of Representatives, where he served briefly as personal page to Speaker Thomas P. “Tip” O’Neill, Jr.
He received a bachelor’s degree in communications from the University of Massachusetts Amherst and a MPA from the John F. Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University.
Reuven resides in Seattle with his wife Dr. Wendy Carlyle, an anesthesiologist practicing at Swedish Medical Center in Ballard. They have four children: Adi, Liat, Zev and Nava.