Indian-American Democrat Ghazala Hashmi Is Virginia's New Lieutenant Governor

Indian-origin Democrat Ghazala Hashmi has won Virginia lieutenant governor's race, defeating Republican John Reid. Hashmi is the first Muslim and the first South Asian American to serve in the Virginia Senate, representing 15th Senatorial District. Hashmi's latest victory means her Senate seat will have to be filled in a special election.

She entered politics in 2019 and in a shocking victory, she flipped over a Republican-held state Senate seat and was elected to the Virginia General Assembly. Five years later, in 2024, she was named Chair of the Senate Education and Health Committee, a crucial leadership post for two critical Democratic priorities, reproductive freedom and public education.

According to the information on Hashmi's website, she has "dedicated her efforts to improving the lives of others", focusing on issues of inequity in housing, education, health care, and environmental justice, among other.

All About Indian-American Democrat Ghazala Hashmi

Born to Zia Hashmi and Tanveer Hashmi in Hyderabad in 1964, Ghazala spent her childhood days at her maternal grandparents' house in Malakpet. She was four when she emigrated with her mother and older brother from India to the United States where they joined her father in Georgia.

Ghazala's father Professor Zia Hashmi is the 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 Centre for International Studies which he founded.

Hashmi's mother, Tanveer Hashmi, is BA and B.Ed. She studied from Osmania University's Women's College in Kothi.

Hashmi graduated as valedictorian of her high school class and received several full scholarships and fellowships. She earned a BA with honors from Georgia Southern University and PhD in American literature from Emory University in Atlanta.

In 1991, Hashmi, along with her husband, Azhar Rafiq, moved to the Richmond area. The couple have two adult daughters - Yasmin and Noor - who both graduated from Chesterfield County Public Schools and the University of Virginia.

Ghazala Hashmi with her husband Azhar Rafiq
Photo Credit: ghazalaforvirginia.com

Hashmi spent nearly 30 years as a professor, first teaching at the University of Richmond and then at Reynolds Community College. At Reynolds Community College, Hashmi also served as the Founding Director of the Center for Excellence in Teaching and Learning (CETL).