Ghazala Hashmi
Ghazala Firdous Hashmi is an American politician serving as the 43rd [Lieutenant Governor of Virginia|lieutenant governor of Virginia] since 2026. A member of the Democratic Party, she previously served as a Virginia state senator for the 15th district from 2020 to 2026. 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.
Born in India and raised in Georgia, Hashmi earned a PhD in English from Emory University. In 2019 [Virginia Senate election|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 John Reid in the general election.
Early life and career
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. Her father and uncle worked in Georgia Southern University’s political science department, and she attended the Marvin Pittman Laboratory School at the university.
Hashmi completed a Bachelor of Arts in English at Georgia Southern University and earned a PhD in English from Emory University. Her 1992 dissertation was titled William Carlos Williams and the American Ground of "In the American Grain" and "Paterson". Peter Dowell was her doctoral advisor.
Hashmi was an educator and academic administrator for 25 years. 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.
Political career
Virginia State Senate
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. She was officially sworn into office on January 8, 2020.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. A judge dismissed the lawsuit in early December.
Lieutenant governor of Virginia (2026–present)
2025 election
In May 2024, Hashmi announced her campaign for lieutenant governor. She narrowly advanced from the Democratic primary in June 2025, ahead of former Richmond Richmond, Virginia|mayor] Levar Stoney and fellow state senator Aaron Rouse respectively. With this nomination, Hashmi became both the first Muslim and the first Indian-American to be nominated for a statewide office in Virginia.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. Hashmi defeated Reid by 11 points. Hashmi became the first Muslim woman elected to a statewide office in American history.
Tenure
She was sworn into office on January 17, 2026, being sworn in by Virginia Supreme Court Chief Justice Cleo Powell and using her family's Quran and an original version of the United States Constitution printed in 1799 on loan from the Virginia Museum of History and Culture located in Richmond. Her office says “these cultural and historic artifacts reflect the nation’s founding legal structures, our commitment to religious plurality and freedoms, and the richness of the Commonwealth’s diversity.”Policy positions
Economy
In April 2025, Hashmi stated her support for repealing Virginia's right-to-work laws. 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.Education
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.Healthcare
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. It would also protect medical providers and pharmacists from legal action for providing contraception to patients. It passed the Virginia General Assembly, but was vetoed by governor Glenn Youngkin in May. The bill was reintroduced in 2025 but was vetoed by Youngkin again. 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.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. As chair of the Senate's Education and Health Committee, she supported Virginia's health insurance marketplace and federal premium tax credits.
Personal life
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 and in 1991 moved to the Richmond area.
Electoral history
2025 election
2025 Democratic lieutenant gubernatorial primary'''2025 lieutenant gubernatorial election'''