Charles H. Leavy

Charles Henry Leavy (February 16, 1884 – September 25, 1952) was a United States representative from Washington and a United States district judge of the United States District Court for the Western District of Washington.

Education and career

Born on February 16, 1884, on a farm in York, York County, Pennsylvania, Leavy moved with his parents to Kansas City, Missouri with his parents in 1887, and attended the public schools of Missouri. He attended the Warrensburg Normal School (now the University of Central Missouri), the Bellingham Normal School (now Western Washington University) and the Kansas City School of Law (now the University of Missouri–Kansas City School of Law) and then read law in 1912. He was a Judge of the Superior Court of the State of Washington from 1926 to 1936.

Congressional service

Leavy ran for the open United States Senate seat of Clarence Dill in 1934, but was unsuccessful in the primary against Lewis B. Schwellenbach, a Seattle attorney raised in Spokane, who easily won the general election over Reno Odlin of Olympia.

Leavy was elected as a Democrat from Washington's 5th congressional district to the United States House of Representatives of the 75th, 76th, and 77th United States Congresses and served from January 3, 1937, until his resignation on August 1, 1942, to accept an appointment to the federal bench. Leavy was nominated by President Franklin D. Roosevelt on October 23, 1941, to a seat on the United States District Court for the Western District of Washington vacated by Judge Edward E. Cushman. He was confirmed by the United States Senate on February 18, 1942, and received his commission on February 25, 1942. He assumed senior status due to a certified disability on August 31, 1952.