Ghazala Hashmi

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In May 2024, Hashmi announced her campaign for lieutenant governor; if elected she would be the first Muslim and Asian American elected to a statewide office in Virginia. She narrowly advanced from the Democratic primary in June, 2025, ahead of former Richmond mayor Levar Stoney and fellow state senator Aaron Rouse respectively, and will face Republican nominee John Reid in November. [1] With this nomination Hashmi is both the first Muslim and the first Indian-American to be nominated for a statewide office in Virginia. [13]

Policy positions

Economy

In April 2025, Hashmi stated her support for repealing Virginia's right-to-work laws. [14] 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. [15]

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. [16]

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. [17] [18] It would also protect medical providers and pharmacists from legal action for providing contraception to patients. [19] It passed the Virginia General Assembly, but was vetoed by governor Glenn Youngkin in May. [20] The bill was reintroduced in 2025 but was vetoed by Youngkin again. [21] [22] 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. [23]

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. [24] As chair of the Senate's Education and Health Committee, she supported Virginia's health insurance marketplace and federal premium tax credits. [25]

Personal life

Hashmi moved to Richmond in 1991 with her husband, Azhar Rafiq. [26] They have two daughters. [2]

Electoral history

2019 election

Ghazala Hashmi
Hashmi - Porch Headshot (cropped).jpg
Hashmi in 2024
Member of the Virginia Senate
Incumbent
Assumed office
January 8, 2020
10th District Democratic primary election [27]
PartyCandidateVotes%
Democratic Ghazala Hashmi 5,246 49.4%
Democratic Eileen Bedell4,34740.9%
Democratic Zachary Parks Brown1,0329.7%
Democratic Write-ins20.0%
Total votes10,627 100%
Virginia's 10th Senate District, 2019 general election [28]
PartyCandidateVotes%
Democratic Ghazala Hashmi 44,548 54.10%
Republican Glen Sturtevant (incumbent)37,73745.80%
Write-in 920.01%
Total votes82,377 100.00%
Democratic gain from Republican

2023 election

Virginia's 15th Senate District, 2023 general election [29]
PartyCandidateVotes%
Democratic Ghazala Hashmi (incumbent) 33,253 62.16%
Republican Hayden Fisher20,04237.46%
Write-in 2020.38%
Total votes53,494 100.00%
Democratic hold

2025 Democratic lieutenant gubernatorial primary

Results by county and independent city: .mw-parser-output .legend{page-break-inside:avoid;break-inside:avoid-column}.mw-parser-output .legend-color{display:inline-block;min-width:1.25em;height:1.25em;line-height:1.25;margin:1px 0;text-align:center;border:1px solid black;background-color:transparent;color:black}.mw-parser-output .legend-text{} Hashmi 20-30% 30-40% 40-50% 50-60% Stoney 20-30% 30-40% 40-50% 50-60% 60-70% 70-80% Rouse 20-30% 30-40% 40-50% 50-60% 60-70% Lateef 30-40% Bastani 30-40% Tie 20-30% 2025 Virginia Democratic lieutenant governor primary election results map by county.svg
Results by county and independent city:
  Hashmi
  •   20–30%
  •   30–40%
  •   40–50%
  •   50–60%
  Stoney
  •   20–30%
  •   30–40%
  •   40–50%
  •   50–60%
  •   60–70%
  •   70–80%
  Rouse
  •   20–30%
  •   30–40%
  •   40–50%
  •   50–60%
  •   60–70%
  Lateef
  •   30–40%
  Bastani
  •   30–40%
  Tie
  •   20–30%
2025 Virginia Lt. Governor Democratic primary [30]
PartyCandidateVotes%
Democratic Ghazala Hashmi 131,865 27.39%
Democratic Levar Stoney 128,26226.64%
Democratic Aaron Rouse 126,80226.34%
Democratic Babur Lateef40,4478.40%
Democratic Alex Bastani27,3865.69%
Democratic Victor Salgado26,6825.54%
Total votes481,444 100.00%

Selected works

Books

Articles

References

  1. 1 2 Diaz, Olivia (June 18, 2025). "Ghazala Hashmi wins Democratic nomination for Virginia lieutenant governor". Associated Press . Retrieved June 18, 2025.
  2. 1 2 3 4 Hashmi, Rasia (November 7, 2019). "Senator Ghazala Hashmi is 'deeply attached' to Hyderabad". The Siasat Daily. Archived from the original on November 8, 2019. Retrieved November 7, 2019.
  3. ↑ Budryk, Zack (November 5, 2019). "Ghazala Hashmi becomes first Muslim woman elected to Virginia's state senate". The Hill . Retrieved November 6, 2019.
  4. ↑ "Making History: Alumna and Literature Professor Wins State Election". Georgia Southern Magazine . August 7, 2020. Retrieved June 30, 2025.
  5. ↑ "Indian American Ghazala Hashmi wins Democratic nomination from Virginia's 10th Senate District". The American Bazaar. June 13, 2019. Retrieved November 6, 2019.
  6. 1 2 Hashmi, Ghazala Firdous (1992). William Carlos Williams and the American ground of In the American grain and Paterson (Ph.D. thesis). Emory University. OCLC   29824251.
  7. ↑ Mirshahi, Dean (November 6, 2019). "Democrat Ghazala Hashmi wins 10th Senate District race". 8News. Retrieved November 6, 2019.
  8. ↑ Suderman, Alan; Rankin, Sarah (January 8, 2020). "Newly empowered Virginia Democrats promise action". Associated Press. Archived from the original on January 9, 2020.
  9. ↑ "Newly-Empowered Virginia Democrats Promise Action". Voice of America. January 8, 2020.
  10. ↑ "Asombra diversidad étnica de nueva Legislatura de Virginia" [Ethnic diversity in new Virginia Legislature amazes]. Houston Chronicle (in Spanish). January 8, 2020. Archived from the original on January 8, 2020.
  11. ↑ Rankin, Sarah (November 29, 2023). "JVirginia state senator seeks dismissal of lawsuit over 'baseless' residency allegations". Associated Press . Retrieved June 30, 2025.
  12. ↑ Rankin, Sarah (December 1, 2023). "Judge dismisses legal challenge against Virginia state senator over residency allegations". Associated Press . Retrieved June 30, 2025.
  13. ↑ Kosmas, Sam (June 18, 2025). "Virginia Election Results: Hashmi clinches Democratic nomination for Virginia lieutenant gov". Fox 5 Washington D.C. Retrieved June 18, 2025.
  14. ↑ O'Connor, Michael (April 24, 2025). "Democratic candidates for lieutenant governor come out against anti-union 'right-to-work' laws". Virginia Dogwood. Retrieved July 7, 2025.
  15. ↑ Hashmi, Ghazala (July 18, 2025). "For Virginia, drop in business rankings a wakeup call". Richmond Times-Dispatch . Retrieved July 22, 2025.
  16. ↑ Cline, Nathaniel (January 16, 2025). "Education advocates urge Va. lawmakers to remove school support cap". Virginia Mercury . Retrieved July 7, 2025.
  17. ↑ Swalec, Andrea (May 24, 2024). "Birth control: Why Youngkin vetoed a contraception bill and how access became an election issue". WRC-TV . Retrieved July 7, 2025.
  18. ↑ Rankin, Sarah (February 15, 2024). "Virginia lawmakers advancing bills that aim to protect access to contraception". Associated Press . Retrieved July 7, 2025.
  19. ↑ Roach, Janet (May 6, 2025). "Youngkin's Contraception Act Veto angers Virginia Democrats". WVEC . Retrieved July 7, 2025.
  20. ↑ Vozzella, Laura (May 18, 2024). "Va. Gov. Youngkin vetoes bills on birth control, Confederate tax loopholes". The Washington Post . Retrieved July 7, 2025.
  21. ↑ Engalnder, Tyler (January 28, 2025). "Virginia Senate passes 'Right to Contraception Act'". WRIC-TV . Retrieved July 7, 2025.
  22. ↑ Kutner, Brad (May 6, 2025). "After another veto, Virginia Democrats vow to return next year with contraceptive protections". WVTF . Retrieved July 7, 2025.
  23. ↑ Woods, Charlotte Rene (February 4, 2025). "Doctors who provide abortion, transgender care could get legal protections under Virginia bill". WHRO . Retrieved July 7, 2025.
  24. ↑ Hoar McGibbon, Adrienne (February 26, 2025). "Medicaid expansion trigger law left untouched during General Assembly". Virginia Public Media . Retrieved July 7, 2025.
  25. ↑ Hoar McGibbon, Adrienne (January 14, 2025). "Virginia's deadline for health insurance extended by 1 week". Virginia Public Media . Retrieved July 7, 2025.
  26. ↑ "Senate of Virginia".
  27. ↑ 2019 Senate of Virginia Democratic Primary - District 10 Virginia Department of Elections.
  28. ↑ "Virginia State Senate District 10". Ballotpedia. Retrieved November 11, 2019.
  29. ↑ "Member, Senate of Virginia (15th District)". Virginia Department of Elections. Retrieved January 14, 2024.
  30. ↑ "2025 June Democratic Primary". Virginia Department of Elections. Retrieved June 19, 2025.
Senate of Virginia
Preceded by Member of the Virginia Senate
from the 10th district
2020–2024		Succeeded by
Preceded by Member of the Virginia Senate
from the 15th district
2024–present		Incumbent
Party political offices
Preceded by Democratic nominee for Lieutenant Governor of Virginia
2025 		Most recent
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