Hyderabad-born Ghazala Hashmi, a Virginia State Senator and former college professor, is leading the race for Virginia’s Lieutenant Governor, energizing South Asian communities across the state, including Indian and Pakistani Americans. Born in 1964 in Hyderabad, with ancestral roots in Karachi, Hashmi moved to the US at age four. She was raised in Georgia, where she witnessed how community-building and open dialogue can bridge cultural and socioeconomic divides. She earned a BA in English from Georgia Southern University and a PhD from Emory University, later teaching for nearly three decades at the University of Richmond and Reynolds Community College.
Hashmi, first elected to the Virginia State Senate in 2019 as the first Muslim and South Asian American, won the Democratic nomination for Lieutenant Governor in June 2025, defeating five other candidates. Her campaign emphasizes education, healthcare, immigrant representation, voting rights, gun violence prevention, climate change, housing, and preservation of democracy, resonating across diverse communities. The latest Washington Post-Schar School poll shows her leading Republican John Reid by seven points, up from four in September.
Her personal story of migration and decades-long engagement in public service has built cross-community appeal. South Asian voters, including Pakistani Americans, praise her inclusive platform, saying her Indian origin is of little consequence. Campaign ads highlight her nearly 30 years of teaching experience and her advocacy for apprenticeships and technical training, strengthening her image as a candidate who works for all families, not just a specific demographic.
Hashmi’s Republican opponent, John Reid, staged a YouTube debate with an AI-generated version of her after she declined to debate in person. Democrats dismissed this as a “shoddy gimmick,” asserting Reid’s focus on theatrics rather than governance.
If elected on November 4, Hashmi will become Virginia’s first Muslim and Asian-American Lieutenant Governor. Her victory would mark a historic milestone for South Asian and immigrant communities, highlighting inclusion, cross-cultural support, and a broad-based Democratic appeal in a state increasingly attentive to diversity and representation.
