- Ghazala Hashmi is an American politician from India and she was elected to serve as the Lieutenant Governor of Virginia
- She is the first South Asian American to serve in the role in the state
Ghazala Hashmi, a politician of in the United States, may have a new milestone: she was elected lieutenant governor of Virginia, making her the first lieutenant governor of South Asian American and Muslim descent in the state.
Ghazala, a Democrat, was declared the winner status on Nov. 4, 2025, in one of the marquee races in Virginia, having approximately about 79 percent of the votes overall. As reported in the press release, she garnered 1,465,634 votes (54.2 percent) to Republican politician John Reid's 1,232,242 votes.
She is a member of the Legislature in Virginia comprised of more than 30 Indian American or South Asian candidates running for positions of consequence at the federal level for 2025 election. Ghazala is also the first elected South Asian American member of the Virginia state senate.
In her biography, Ghazala refers to herself as an educator, advocate for social justice and inclusion, and states that during her time in the legislature, she advocated for public education, voting rights, preserving democracy, reproductive liberty, preventing gun violence, protecting the environment, housing, and access to affordable, quality healthcare.
The Indian American Impact Fund called her election a historic win, not only for her community, but for democracy overall. The group stated it put in about $175,000 into her campaign to help increase turnout and representation.
Chintan Patel, Executive Director of the Indian American Impact Fund, expressed admiration of Ms. Ghazala for her long-standing work on education, housing equity, healthcare issues and reproductive rights by stating "She is a tireless advocate, who is an immigrant, an educator, and wants to help others".
Ghazala ran for office for the first time in 2019 and won with her campaign to flip a Senate seat in the Virginia State Senate defeating a republican incumbent which also helped democrats flip control of the Virginia Senate.
In the year 2024, she served as the Chair of the Senate Education and Health Committee in addition to original work in healthcare, housing and environmental justice issues.
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