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Ghazala Hashmi

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Ghazala Hashmi
Hashmi in 2024
Lieutenant Governor-elect of Virginia
Assuming office
January 17, 2026
GovernorAbigail Spanberger (elect)
SucceedingWinsome Earle-Sears
Member of the Virginia Senate
Incumbent
Assumed office
January 8, 2020
Preceded byGlen Sturtevant
Succeeded byTBD
Constituency10th district (2020–2024)
15th district (2024–present)
Personal details
BornGhazala Firdous Hashmi
(1964-07-05) July 5, 1964 (age 61)
Hyderabad, Andhra Pradesh (now Telangana), India
Political partyDemocratic
SpouseAzhar Rafiq
Children2
EducationGeorgia Southern University (BA)
Emory University (MA, PhD)
WebsiteCampaign website

Ghazala Firdous Hashmi (/ɡəˈzɑːlə ˈhɑːʃmi/ gə-ZAHL-ə HASH-mee; born July 5, 1964) is an American politician, academic administrator, and educator who is the lieutenant governor-elect of Virginia. A member of the Democratic Party, she has served as a Virginia state senator for the 15th district since 2020. She is the first Asian-American and Muslim elected to statewide office in Virginia, along with being the first Muslim woman to win statewide office anywhere in the United States. [1]

Born in India and raised in Georgia, Hashmi graduated from Georgia Southern University with a bachelor's degree in English. In 2019, she was elected to the Virginia General Assembly and re-elected in 2023. As the Democratic nominee in the 2025 Virginia lieutenant gubernatorial election, Hashmi defeated Republican nominee John Reid.

Early life and career

[edit]

Hashmi was born in Hyderabad, India, in 1964 to Tanveer and Zia Hashmi into a Hyderabadi Muslim family. She lived at her maternal grandparents' home in Malakpet during her childhood. Her maternal grandfather served in the finance department of the Government of Andhra Pradesh.

Her family moved to the United States in 1969 when she was four years old and she grew up in Statesboro, Georgia.[2][3] Her father and uncle worked in Georgia Southern University’s political science department, and she attended the Marvin Pittman Laboratory School at the university.[4]

Hashmi completed a Bachelor of Arts in English at Georgia Southern University and earned a Ph.D. in English from Emory University.[5] Her 1992 dissertation was titled William Carlos Williams and the American Ground of "In the American Grain" and "Paterson".[6] Peter Dowell was her doctoral advisor.[6]

Hashmi was an educator and academic administrator for 25 years.[2] She was a visiting assistant professor at the University of Richmond and a professor at J. Sargeant Reynolds Community College, where she served as the founding director of the Center for Excellence in Teaching and Learning.[2]

Political career

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Virginia State Senate

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In the 2019 Virginia Senate election, Hashmi defeated incumbent Republican Glen Sturtevant in the 10th district, flipping the chamber to Democratic control. She is the first woman to represent the district and the first Muslim elected to the Senate of Virginia.[7] She was officially sworn into office on January 8, 2020.[8][9][10]

In 2023, she was re-elected with over 60% of the vote against Republican candidate Hayden Fisher in the redistricted 15th district. A legal challenge was filed shortly after claiming Hashmi did not meet the residency requirements to hold office, having established her residency at a rental apartment within the 15th district while her family home nearby was in a neighboring district.[11] A judge dismissed the lawsuit in early December.[12]

2025 Virginia lieutenant gubernatorial election

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Main article: 2025 Virginia lieutenant gubernatorial election

In May 2024, Hashmi announced her campaign for lieutenant governor.[13] She narrowly advanced from the Democratic primary in June 2025, ahead of former Richmond mayor Levar Stoney and fellow state senator Aaron Rouse respectively.[14] With this nomination, Hashmi became both the first Muslim and the first Indian-American to be nominated for a statewide office in Virginia.[15]

In the general election, Hashmi faced the Republican nominee, former radio host John Reid, who was the first openly gay person to be nominated by a major party for a statewide office in Virginia.[16] Hashmi defeated Reid by 11 points.[17] Hashmi became the first Muslim woman elected to a statewide office in American history.[18]

Policy positions

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Economy

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In April 2025, Hashmi stated her support for repealing Virginia's right-to-work laws.[19] In a July opinion piece for the Richmond Times-Dispatch, she criticized Donald Trump's federal worker layoffs as the primary reason for Virginia's drop from first to fourth place in CNBC’s 2025 "America's Top States For Business" ranking.[20]

Education

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In 2025, Hashmi sponsored a bill to end a cap on state-funding for support positions in public schools which would cost $1.1 billion.[21]

Healthcare

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In 2024 following the overturning of Roe v. Wade, Hashmi and delegate Marcia Price introduced the Right to Contraception Act which would establish a legal right to access and use contraception in Virginia, including: oral contraceptive pills, intrauterine devices, and condoms.[22][23] It would also protect medical providers and pharmacists from legal action for providing contraception to patients.[24] It passed the Virginia General Assembly, but was vetoed by governor Glenn Youngkin in May.[25] The bill was reintroduced in 2025 but was vetoed by Youngkin again.[26][27] The same year, the Senate passed her bill which would block the extradition of health care providers who faced criminal charges in other states for performing medical services that are legal in Virginia—such as abortion and gender-affirming care.[28]

In 2025, she introduced a budget amendment alongside Creigh Deeds that would have set out a plan to find alternative funding if Virginia's federal Medicaid funding was cut.[29] As chair of the Senate's Education and Health Committee, she supported Virginia's health insurance marketplace and federal premium tax credits.[30]

Personal life

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Ghazala Hashmi was born on July 5, 1964 in the city of Hyderabad, India to Professor Zia Hashmi and Tanveer Hashmi. Ghazala's father Professor Zia Hashmi is an alumnus of Aligarh Muslim University from where he did MA and LLB. He completed his PhD in International Relations from University of South Carolina and soon after began his university teaching career. He retired as the Director of the Georgia Southern University Center for International Studies which he founded.

Ghazala Hashmi's mother, Tanveer Hashmi, is a double graduate with Bachelor of Arts and Bachelor of Education from Osmania University College for Women popularly known as Koti Women's College in Hyderabad. Since birth Ghazala grew up at her maternal grandparents' house in Malakpet, Hyderabad. At the age of four, she emigrated with her mother and older brother from India to the United States where they joined her father in Georgia.

Ghazala Hashmi is married to Azhar Rafiq and in 1991 moved to the Richmond area. The couple have two daughters, Yasmin and Noor, who both graduated from Chesterfield County Public Schools and the University of Virginia. [31]

Electoral history

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2019 election

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Virginia's 10th Senate District, 2019 primary election [32]
Party Candidate Votes %
Democratic Ghazala Hashmi 5,246 49.4%
Democratic Eileen Bedell 4,347 40.9%
Democratic Zachary Parks Brown 1,032 9.7%
Democratic Write-ins 2 0.0%
Total votes 10,627 100%
Virginia's 10th Senate District, 2019 general election[33]
Party Candidate Votes %
Democratic Ghazala Hashmi 44,548 54.10%
Republican Glen Sturtevant (incumbent) 37,737 45.80%
Write-in 92 0.01%
Total votes 82,377 100.00%
Democratic gain from Republican

2023 election

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Virginia's 15th Senate District, 2023 general election[34]
Party Candidate Votes %
Democratic Ghazala Hashmi (incumbent) 33,253 62.16%
Republican Hayden Fisher 20,042 37.46%
Write-in 202 0.38%
Total votes 53,494 100.00%
Democratic hold

2025 Democratic lieutenant gubernatorial primary

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Results by county and independent city:
  Hashmi
  •   20–30%
  •   30–40%
  •   40–50%
  •   50–60%
  Stoney
  •   20–30%
  •   30–40%
  •   40–50%
  •   50–60%
  •   60–70%
  •   70–80%
  Rouse
  •   20–30%
  •   30–40%
  •   40–50%
  •   50–60%
  •   60–70%
  Lateef
  •   30–40%
  Bastani
  •   30–40%
  Tie
  •   20–30%
2025 Virginia Lt. Governor Democratic primary[35]
Party Candidate Votes %
Democratic Ghazala Hashmi 131,865 27.39%
Democratic Levar Stoney 128,262 26.64%
Democratic Aaron Rouse 126,802 26.34%
Democratic Babur Lateef 40,447 8.40%
Democratic Alex Bastani 27,386 5.69%
Democratic Victor Salgado 26,682 5.54%
Total votes 481,444 100.00%

Selected works

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Books

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  • Bensen, Beth; Woetzel, Denise; Wu, Hong; Hashmi, Ghazala (September 29, 2016). "Chapter 19. Impacting Information Literacy through Alignment, Resources, and Assessment". In D'Angelo, Barbara J; Jamieson, Sandra; Maid, Barry; Walker, Janet R. (eds.). Information Literacy: Research and Collaboration across Disciplines (PDF). University Press of Colorado. pp. 397–410. doi:10.37514/PER-B.2016.0834. ISBN 978-1-64215-083-4.
  • Hashmi, Ghazala (March 4, 2016). "Chapter 10. Shifting the City's Center within Katherine Boo's Behind the Beautiful Forevers". In Wilhite, Keith (ed.). The City Since 9/11: Literature, Film, Television. Bloomsbury Publishing. pp. 177–192. ISBN 1611477190.

Articles

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References

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  1. ^ "Virginia's Ghazala Hashmi becomes the first Muslim woman elected statewide in the U.S." NBC News. November 5, 2025.
  2. ^ a b c Hashmi, Rasia (November 7, 2019). "Senator Ghazala Hashmi is 'deeply attached' to Hyderabad". The Siasat Daily. Archived from the original on November 8, 2019. Retrieved November 7, 2019.
  3. ^ Budryk, Zack (November 5, 2019). "Ghazala Hashmi becomes first Muslim woman elected to Virginia's state senate". The Hill. Retrieved November 6, 2019.
  4. ^ "Making History: Alumna and Literature Professor Wins State Election". Georgia Southern Magazine. August 7, 2020. Retrieved June 30, 2025.
  5. ^ "Indian American Ghazala Hashmi wins Democratic nomination from Virginia's 10th Senate District". The American Bazaar. June 13, 2019. Retrieved November 6, 2019.
  6. ^ a b Hashmi, Ghazala Firdous (1992). William Carlos Williams and the American ground of In the American grain and Paterson (Ph.D. thesis). Emory University. OCLC 29824251.
  7. ^ Mirshahi, Dean (November 6, 2019). "Democrat Ghazala Hashmi wins 10th Senate District race". 8News. Retrieved November 6, 2019.
  8. ^ Suderman, Alan; Rankin, Sarah (January 8, 2020). "Newly empowered Virginia Democrats promise action". Associated Press. Archived from the original on January 9, 2020.
  9. ^ "Newly-Empowered Virginia Democrats Promise Action". Voice of America. January 8, 2020.
  10. ^ "Asombra diversidad étnica de nueva Legislatura de Virginia" [Ethnic diversity in new Virginia Legislature amazes]. Houston Chronicle (in Spanish). January 8, 2020. Archived from the original on January 8, 2020.
  11. ^ Rankin, Sarah (November 29, 2023). "JVirginia state senator seeks dismissal of lawsuit over 'baseless' residency allegations". Associated Press. Retrieved June 30, 2025.
  12. ^ Rankin, Sarah (December 1, 2023). "Judge dismisses legal challenge against Virginia state senator over residency allegations". Associated Press. Retrieved June 30, 2025.
  13. ^ lowkell (May 2, 2024). "VA Sen. Ghazala Hashmi Launches Her Campaign for the 2025 Democratic Nomination for Lt. Governor; Exclusive Blue Virginia Interview". Blue Virginia. Retrieved November 7, 2025.
  14. ^ Diaz, Olivia (June 18, 2025). "Ghazala Hashmi wins Democratic nomination for Virginia lieutenant governor". Associated Press. Retrieved June 18, 2025.
  15. ^ Kosmas, Sam (June 18, 2025). "Virginia Election Results: Hashmi clinches Democratic nomination for Virginia lieutenant gov". Fox 5 Washington D.C. Retrieved June 18, 2025.
  16. ^ Jr, Lou Chibbaro (November 5, 2025). "Gay Republican loses race for Virginia lieutenant governor". Retrieved November 6, 2025.
  17. ^ "Virginia election winners break race and gender barriers amid national scrutiny on diversity". The Washington Post. November 5, 2025. ISSN 0190-8286. Retrieved November 6, 2025.
  18. ^ Baratko, Trevor (November 4, 2025). "Hashmi wins Virginia's lieutenant governor's race, becomes first Muslim woman to win statewide office in US". INSIDENOVA.COM. Retrieved November 6, 2025.
  19. ^ O'Connor, Michael (April 24, 2025). "Democratic candidates for lieutenant governor come out against anti-union 'right-to-work' laws". Virginia Dogwood. Retrieved July 7, 2025.
  20. ^ Hashmi, Ghazala (July 18, 2025). "For Virginia, drop in business rankings a wakeup call". Richmond Times-Dispatch. Retrieved July 22, 2025.
  21. ^ Cline, Nathaniel (January 16, 2025). "Education advocates urge Va. lawmakers to remove school support cap". Virginia Mercury. Retrieved July 7, 2025.
  22. ^ Swalec, Andrea (May 24, 2024). "Birth control: Why Youngkin vetoed a contraception bill and how access became an election issue". WRC-TV. Retrieved July 7, 2025.
  23. ^ Rankin, Sarah (February 15, 2024). "Virginia lawmakers advancing bills that aim to protect access to contraception". Associated Press. Retrieved July 7, 2025.
  24. ^ Roach, Janet (May 6, 2025). "Youngkin's Contraception Act Veto angers Virginia Democrats". WVEC. Retrieved July 7, 2025.
  25. ^ Vozzella, Laura (May 18, 2024). "Va. Gov. Youngkin vetoes bills on birth control, Confederate tax loopholes". The Washington Post. Retrieved July 7, 2025.
  26. ^ Engalnder, Tyler (January 28, 2025). "Virginia Senate passes 'Right to Contraception Act'". WRIC-TV. Retrieved July 7, 2025.
  27. ^ Kutner, Brad (May 6, 2025). "After another veto, Virginia Democrats vow to return next year with contraceptive protections". WVTF. Retrieved July 7, 2025.
  28. ^ Woods, Charlotte Rene (February 4, 2025). "Doctors who provide abortion, transgender care could get legal protections under Virginia bill". WHRO. Retrieved July 7, 2025.
  29. ^ Hoar McGibbon, Adrienne (February 26, 2025). "Medicaid expansion trigger law left untouched during General Assembly". Virginia Public Media. Retrieved July 7, 2025.
  30. ^ Hoar McGibbon, Adrienne (January 14, 2025). "Virginia's deadline for health insurance extended by 1 week". Virginia Public Media. Retrieved July 7, 2025.
  31. ^ "Indian-American Democrat Ghazala Hashmi Is Virginia's New Lieutenant Governor".
  32. ^ 2019 Senate of Virginia Democratic Primary - District 10 Virginia Department of Elections.
  33. ^ "Virginia State Senate District 10". Ballotpedia. Retrieved November 11, 2019.
  34. ^ "Member, Senate of Virginia (15th District)". Virginia Department of Elections. Retrieved January 14, 2024.
  35. ^ "2025 June Democratic Primary". Virginia Department of Elections. Retrieved June 19, 2025.
[edit]
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Ghazala Hashmi.
Party political offices
Preceded by Democratic nominee for Lieutenant Governor of Virginia
2025 		Most recent
Political offices
Preceded by Lieutenant Governor of Virginia
Taking office 2026 		Elect
Members of the Senate of Virginia
  1. ▌Timmy French (R)
  2. ▌Mark Obenshain (R)
  3. ▌Chris Head (R)
  4. ▌David Suetterlein (R)
  5. ▌Travis Hackworth (R)
  6. ▌Todd Pillion (R)
  7. ▌Bill Stanley (R)
  8. ▌Mark Peake (R)
  9. ▌Tammy Brankley Mulchi (R)
  10. ▌Luther Cifers (R)
  11. ▌Creigh Deeds (D)
  12. ▌Glen Sturtevant (R)
  13. ▌Lashrecse Aird (D)
  14. ▌Lamont Bagby (D)
  15. ▌Ghazala Hashmi (D)
  16. ▌Schuyler VanValkenburg (D)
  17. ▌Emily Jordan (R)
  18. ▌Louise Lucas (D)
  19. ▌Christie Craig (R)
  20. ▌Bill DeSteph (R)
  21. ▌Angelia Williams Graves (D)
  22. ▌Aaron Rouse (D)
  23. ▌Mamie Locke (D)
  24. ▌Danny Diggs (R)
  25. ▌Richard Stuart (R)
  26. ▌Ryan McDougle (R)
  27. ▌Tara Durant (R)
  28. ▌Bryce Reeves (R)
  29. ▌Jeremy McPike (D)
  30. ▌Danica Roem (D)
  31. ▌Russet Perry (D)
  32. ▌Kannan Srinivasan (D)
  33. ▌Jennifer Carroll Foy (D)
  34. ▌Scott Surovell (D)
  35. ▌Dave Marsden (D)
  36. ▌Stella Pekarsky (D)
  37. ▌Saddam Azlan Salim (D)
  38. ▌Jennifer Boysko (D)
  39. ▌Adam Ebbin (D)
  40. ▌Barbara Favola (D)
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