Ghazala Hashmi, the Democratic candidate for Lt. Governor of the Commonwealth of Virginia, won the race with a comfortable margin as she made history in the nation, November 4, 2025.
Hashmi becomes the first Indian American to hold the position in Virginia, and the second Indian American to become Lt. Governor of a state after Aruna Miller of Maryland.
Hashmi broke the glass ceiling by becoming the first Muslim woman to win a statewide office in the country’s history.
A progressive Democrat, Hashmi defeated Republican John Reid, securing 55 percent of the vote to Reid’s 44 percent, to step into a largely symbolic role, but also one that gives her the deciding vote in the event of a tie in the State Senate.
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The salary for the post is a mere $36,000 which according to observers, makes the Lt. Governor’s position more like a stepping stone for making a run for higher office like that of Governor, or even run for the US Congress.
The result for the gubernatorial race has also been decided and Virginians chose a Democrat, Abigail Spanberger to replace the outgoing Republican governor Glen Youngkin.
Hashmi’s legislative priorities as spelt out on her campaign website, include public education, voting rights and the preservation of democracy, reproductive freedom, gun violence prevention, the environment, housing and affordable healthcare access.
The Indian American Impact Fund, a leading political action committee, which said it had invested $175,000 in Hashmi’s campaign to mobilize voters, congratulated her on her victory.
“Ghazala Hashmi’s victory is a landmark moment for our community, our Commonwealth, and our democracy,” said Chintan Patel, executive director of Impact Fund. “An immigrant, educator, and tireless advocate, she has dedicated her life to expanding opportunity and delivering results for working families across Virginia,” he added.
Hashmi made history before when she flipped the Republican-held seat in the Virginia State Senate in 2019.
Hyderabad-born Hashmi came to the US from India as a four-year old with her mother and older brother, to join her father in Georgia just as he was completing his PhD in international relations and beginning his university teaching career.
Ghazala grew up in the small college town, at a time when public schools were being desegregated, she notes in her profile on the campaign website ghazalaforvirginia.com.
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.
Ghazala and her husband, Azhar Rafiq, moved as newlyweds to the Richmond area in 1991, and she spent nearly 30 years as a professor, first teaching at the University of Richmond and then at Reynolds Community College. While at Reynolds, she also served as the Founding Director of the Center for Excellence in Teaching and Learning (CETL).
The couple has two adult daughters who both graduated from Chesterfield County Public Schools and the University of Virginia.