Democratic Lt. Governor’s Association announces $1 Million investment in Virginia candidate Ghazala Hashmi’s race

Marks the Largest Single Investment Ever in a Campaign for Virginia Lt. Governor

Virginia Senator Ghazala Hashmi, candidate for Lt. Governor of Virginia. PHOTO: @GhazalaforVirginia

The Democratic Lieutenant Governors Association (DLGA) announced June 27, 2025, that it will make an initial investment of $1 million to support Indian American Ghazala Hashmi’s campaign for lieutenant governor. This investment marks the largest investment in a Virginia lieutenant governor’s campaign to date, and is also double the size of investment the Republican Governors Association is making in Virginia.

“The DLGA is proud to make this historic $1 million investment in support of Ghazala Hashmi’s campaign for Lieutenant Governor—the largest ever made to a lieutenant governor candidate in Virginia,” said DLGA Chair and Pennsylvania Lt. Governor Austin Davis, in the press release. “As a State Senator, Ghazala has been a tireless champion for Virginians – leading efforts to protect Medicaid, safeguard access to reproductive healthcare, and strengthen Virginia’s public schools. The ongoing chaos of the Trump administration, the rising cost of living, and the Trump-ordered layoffs of Virginia’s federal workforce raise the stakes of this critical race, and the DLGA is proud to work alongside Ghazala to make history this November.”

This investment comes a week after Hashmi secured the nomination in a competitive Democratic primary. Hashmi’s opponent in the run to the November general elections, is Republican John Reid.

Senator Hashmi is the first Muslim and the first Indian American to serve in the Virginia Senate. She came to the US as a four year-old with her mother and older brother from India to the United States where they joined her father in Georgia as he was completing his PhD in international relations and beginning his university teaching career.

She grew up in the small college town as public schools were being desegregated. After graduating as valedictorian of her high school class and receiving multiple full scholarships and fellowships, Hashmi earned a BA with honors from Georgia Southern University and her PhD in American literature from Emory University in Atlanta.

If elected in November, as Virginia’s next Lt. Governor, Hashmi will be the country’s first female statewide elected Muslim American.