Reagan Blackburn Dunn (born 1971) is an American politician and lawyer who is a member of the nonpartisan

King County Council The Metropolitan King County Council, the legislative body of King County, Washington, consists of nine members elected by district. The Council adopts laws, sets policy, and holds final approval over the budget. Its current name and structure i ...

, representing District 9 in Southeast

King County, Washington King County is located in the U.S. state of Washington. The population was 2,269,675 in the 2020 census, making it the most populous county in Washington, and the 13th-most populous in the United States. The county seat is Seattle, also the st ...

. District 9 includes the cities of

Bellevue Bellevue means "beautiful view" in French. It may refer to: Placenames Australia * Bellevue, Western Australia * Bellevue Hill, New South Wales * Bellevue, Queensland * Bellevue, Glebe, an historic house in Sydney, New South Wales Canada ...

Newcastle Newcastle usually refers to: *Newcastle upon Tyne, a city and metropolitan borough in Tyne and Wear, England *Newcastle-under-Lyme, a town in Staffordshire, England *Newcastle, New South Wales, a metropolitan area in Australia, named after Newcastle ...

, Renton, Maple Valley, Covington, Black Diamond, and Enumclaw, as well as large unincorporated areas. Prior to his service on the King County Council, Dunn was a federal prosecutor and Presidential appointee in the US Department of Justice. As Senior Counsel to the Director for the Executive

Executive Office for United States Attorneys The Executive Office for United States Attorneys (EOUSA) is the office within the Department of Justice that provides executive and administrative support for the 93 United States Attorneys located throughout the 50 states, District of Columbia, Gu ...

, he helped create

Project Safe Neighborhoods Project Safe Neighborhoods (PSN) is a national initiative by the United States Department of Justice with the help of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) to reduce gun violence in the United States. The project's aim is to ...

, a national initiative against gun violence.

Early life and education

He is a son of former U.S. Congresswoman

Jennifer Dunn Jennifer Jill Dunn (née Blackburn; July 29, 1941 – September 5, 2007) was an American politician and engineer who served six terms as a Republican member of the United States House of Representatives from 1993 to 2005, representing . Early li ...

, who primarily raised Dunn and his brother. He was named after former U.S. President

Ronald Reagan Ronald Wilson Reagan ( ; February 6, 1911June 5, 2004) was an American politician, actor, and union leader who served as the 40th president of the United States from 1981 to 1989. He also served as the 33rd governor of California from 1967 ...

and grew up in

Bellevue, Washington Bellevue ( ) is a city in the Eastside region of King County, Washington, United States, located across Lake Washington from Seattle. It is the third-largest city in the Seattle metropolitan area and has variously been characterized as a s ...

. Dunn earned a Bachelor of Arts degree from

Arizona State University Arizona State University (Arizona State or ASU) is a public research university in the Phoenix metropolitan area. Founded in 1885 by the 13th Arizona Territorial Legislature, ASU is one of the largest public universities by enrollment in the ...

. In 1998, he earned his

Juris Doctor The Juris Doctor (J.D. or JD), also known as Doctor of Jurisprudence (J.D., JD, D.Jur., or DJur), is a graduate-entry professional degree in law and one of several Doctor of Law degrees. The J.D. is the standard degree obtained to practice law ...

from

University of Washington School of Law The University of Washington School of Law is the law school of the University of Washington, located on the northwest corner of the main campus in Seattle, Washington. The 2023 '' U.S. News & World Report'' law school rankings place Washingt ...

Career

After graduating from law school, Dunn joined the law firm of Inslee, Doezie & Ryder, P.S. in Bellevue. In 2001, Dunn was appointed by

President George W. Bush George Walker Bush (born July 6, 1946) is an American politician who served as the 43rd president of the United States from 2001 to 2009. A member of the Republican Party, Bush family, and son of the 41st president George H. W. Bush, he ...

to serve in the

United States Department of Justice The United States Department of Justice (DOJ), also known as the Justice Department, is a federal executive department of the United States government tasked with the enforcement of federal law and administration of justice in the United State ...

(DOJ) as Senior Counsel to the Director for the Executive

. In this capacity, he was the first National Coordinator of

, which he helped to author. He later served as Counsel to the Assistant Attorney General for the

Office of Justice Programs The Office of Justice Programs (OJP) is an agency of the United States Department of Justice that focuses on crime prevention through research and development, assistance to state, local, and tribal criminal justice agencies, including law enforce ...

and Attorney Advisor for the Department of Justice's Office of Public Affairs. Following the

September 11 attacks The September 11 attacks, commonly known as 9/11, were four coordinated suicide terrorist attacks carried out by al-Qaeda against the United States on Tuesday, September 11, 2001. That morning, nineteen terrorists hijacked four commercia ...

, Dunn was a Department of Justice delegate on President Bush's Task Force on Citizen Preparedness, where he helped form the

USA Freedom Corps USA Freedom Corps was a White House office and fifth policy council (along with Domestic, Economic, National Security, and Homeland Security) within the Executive Office of the President of the United States under George W. Bush, who as President ...

Citizen Corps Citizen Corps is a program under the Department of Homeland Security that provides training for the population of the United States to assist in the recovery after a disaster or terrorist attack. Each local Citizen Corps Council partners with orga ...

, and the

Volunteers in Police Service The Volunteers in Police Service (VIPS) is a volunteer program that provides volunteer assistance to local police. The program is managed by the International Association of Chiefs of Police in partnership with the White House Office of the USA Fr ...

Program and led efforts to expand the National Neighborhood Watch Program to include terrorism awareness. Dunn also participated in the investigation of Zacharias Moussaoui in the Eastern District of Virginia. Dunn was appointed to the

in 2005, and elected to the position that same year. In

2012 File:2012 Events Collage V3.png, From left, clockwise: The passenger cruise ship Costa Concordia lies capsized after the Costa Concordia disaster; Damage to Casino Pier in Seaside Heights, New Jersey as a result of Hurricane Sandy; People gather ...

, he ran for

Attorney General of Washington The Attorney General of Washington is the chief legal officer of the U.S. state of Washington and head of the Washington State Office of the Attorney General. The attorney general represents clients of the state and defends the public interest i ...

. He received 47 percent of the vote, losing the election to Bob Ferguson. On November 29, 2021, Dunn launched a campaign for the

U.S. House of Representatives The United States House of Representatives, often referred to as the House of Representatives, the U.S. House, or simply the House, is the lower chamber of the United States Congress, with the Senate being the upper chamber. Together they ...

in the 8th district against two-term incumbent

Democrat Democrat, Democrats, or Democratic may refer to: Politics *A proponent of democracy, or democratic government; a form of government involving rule by the people. *A member of a Democratic Party: **Democratic Party (United States) (D) **Democratic ...

Kim Schrier Kimberly Merle Schrier ( ; born August 23, 1968) is an American politician and former physician serving as the U.S. Representative from since 2019. She is a member of the Democratic Party. Early life and career Schrier was born and raised in ...

2022 File:2022 collage V1.png, Clockwise, from top left: Road junction at Yamato-Saidaiji Station several hours after the assassination of Shinzo Abe; 2022 Sri Lankan protests, Anti-government protest in Sri Lanka in front of the Presidential Secretari ...

Personal life

Dunn lives in

Covington, Washington Covington is a city in King County, Washington, King County, Washington (state), Washington, United States. The population was 20,777 at the time of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. Prior to the 2010 census, Covington was counted as pa ...

, with his wife Ashley. He has two children from a previous marriage. In 2014, Dunn

pleaded guilty In legal terms, a plea is simply an answer to a claim made by someone in a criminal case under common law using the adversarial system. Colloquially, a plea has come to mean the assertion by a defendant at arraignment, or otherwise in response ...

driving under the influence Driving under the influence (DUI)—also called driving while impaired, impaired driving, driving while intoxicated (DWI), drunk driving, operating while intoxicated (OWI), operating under the influence (OUI), operating vehicle under the infl ...

. In 2022, he first spoke publicly about his past struggles with

alcoholism Alcoholism is, broadly, any drinking of alcohol (drug), alcohol that results in significant Mental health, mental or physical health problems. Because there is disagreement on the definition of the word ''alcoholism'', it is not a recognize ...

, crediting his journey to

sobriety Sobriety is the condition of not having any measurable levels or effects from alcohol or drugs. Sobriety is also considered to be the natural state of a human being at birth. A person in a state of sobriety is considered sober. Organizations o ...

with inspiring him to advocate for

public policy Public policy is an institutionalized proposal or a decided set of elements like laws, regulations, guidelines, and actions to solve or address relevant and real-world problems, guided by a conception and often implemented by programs. Public p ...

that helps people in

recovery Recovery or Recover may refer to: Arts and entertainment Books * ''Recovery'' (novel), a Star Wars e-book * Recovery Version, a translation of the Bible with footnotes published by Living Stream Ministry Film and television * ''Recovery'' (fil ...

Electoral history

References

External links

Official website

Biography at King County
{{DEFAULTSORT:Dunn, Reagan 1971 births Candidates in the 2022 United States House of Representatives elections King County Councillors Living people Washington (state) lawyers Washington (state) politicians convicted of crimes Washington (state) Republicans