Indian-origin Democrat Ghazala Hashmi has won the election for the position of Lieutenant Governor of the southeastern U.S. state of Virginia. She defeated Republican candidate John Read to secure the role. Hashmi has already made history as the first Muslim and first South Asian-American member of the Virginia Senate, representing the state’s 15th Senate District.
Hashmi’s victory in the lieutenant governor race means a special election will soon be held to fill her now-vacant Senate seat. Hashmi entered politics in 2019, winning a significant victory that reclaimed a Republican-held Senate seat and propelled her into the Virginia legislature.
Five years later, in 2024, she was appointed chair of the Senate Committee on Education and Health. The position proved important for advancing key Democratic priorities such as reproductive rights and public education.
Information on Hashmi’s official website notes her long-standing commitment to improving quality of life for others. She has been active on issues including housing, education, healthcare, and environmental justice.
Who is Ghazala Hashmi?
Ghazala Hashmi was born in 1964 in Hyderabad, India, to parents Zia Hashmi and Tanveer Hashmi. She spent her early childhood in Malakpet, Hyderabad. At the age of four, she moved to the United States with her mother and elder brother, later joining her father in Georgia.
Her father, Professor Zia Hashmi, is an alumnus of Aligarh Muslim University, where he earned MA and LLB degrees. He later completed a PhD in International Relations from the University of South Carolina and pursued a long career in academia, retiring as the director of his own Center for International Studies.
Her mother, Tanveer Hashmi, holds BA and B.Ed degrees from Osmania University’s Women’s College in Hyderabad.
Hashmi graduated high school as valedictorian, earning multiple scholarships and fellowships. She completed a BA from Georgia Southern University and later earned a PhD in American Literature from Emory University in Atlanta.
In 1991, Hashmi moved to the Richmond region with her husband, Azhar Rafique. Their two adult daughters, Yasmin and Noor, completed their schooling in Chesterfield County Public Schools and later graduated from the University of Virginia.
Hashmi has taught for nearly 30 years—first at the University of Richmond, and later at Reynolds Community College. At Reynolds, she also founded and directed the Center for Excellence in Teaching and Learning (CETL).
