Ghazala Hashmi

Ghazala Firdous Hashmi ( gə-ZAHL-ə HASH-mee; born July 5, 1964) is an American politician serving as the 43rd lieutenant governor of Virginia since 2026. A member of the Democratic Party, she previously served as a Virginia state senator for the 15th district from 2020 to 2026. She is the first Asian-American (Indian-American) and Muslim elected to statewide office in Virginia, along with being the first Muslim woman to win statewide office anywhere in the United States. Born in Hyderabad, India and raised in the state of Georgia, Hashmi earned a PhD in English from Emory University. In 2019, she was elected to the Virginia General Assembly and re-elected in 2023. As the Democratic nominee in the 2025 Virginia lieutenant gubernatorial election, Hashmi defeated Republican John Reid in the general election.

Infobox

Governor

Abigail Spanberger

Preceded by

Glen Sturtevant

Succeeded by

Michael Jones

Constituency

10th district (2020–2024) 15th district (2024–2026)

Born

Ghazala Firdous Hashmi (1964-07-05) July 5, 1964 Hyderabad, Andhra Pradesh (now Telangana), India

Party

Democratic

Spouse

Azhar Rafiq

Children

Education

Georgia Southern University (BA) Emory University (MA, PhD)

Website

Official website Campaign website

Tables

Virginia's 10th Senate District, 2019 primary election · Electoral history › 2019 election

Total votes

Party

Total votes

Party

10,627

Candidate

100%

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Ghazala Hashmi	5,246	49 %
	Democratic	Eileen Bedell	4,347	40 %
	Democratic	Zachary Parks Brown	1,032	9 %
	Democratic	Write-ins	2	0 %
Total votes			10,627	100%

Virginia's 10th Senate District, 2019 general election · Electoral history › 2019 election

Total votes

Party

Total votes

Party

82,377

Candidate

100 %

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Ghazala Hashmi	44,548	54 %
	Republican	Glen Sturtevant (incumbent)	37,737	45 %
	Write-in		92	0 %
Total votes			82,377	100 %
	Democratic gain from Republican

Virginia's 15th Senate District, 2023 general election · Electoral history › 2023 election

Total votes

Party

Total votes

Party

53,494

Candidate

100 %

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Ghazala Hashmi (incumbent)	33,253	62 %
	Republican	Hayden Fisher	20,042	37 %
	Write-in		202	0 %
Total votes			53,494	100 %
	Democratic hold

2025 Virginia Lt. Governor Democratic primary · Electoral history › 2025 election

Total votes

Party

Total votes

Party

481,444

Candidate

100 %

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Ghazala Hashmi	131,865	27 %
	Democratic	Levar Stoney	128,262	26 %
	Democratic	Aaron Rouse	126,802	26 %
	Democratic	Babur Lateef	40,447	8 %
	Democratic	Alex Bastani	27,386	5 %
	Democratic	Victor Salgado	26,682	5 %
Total votes			481,444	100 %

2025 Virginia lieutenant gubernatorial election · Electoral history › 2025 election

Total votes

Party

Total votes

Party

3,414,177

Candidate

100

Turnout

Party

Turnout

Registered electors

Party

Registered electors

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Democratic	Ghazala Hashmi	1,900,104	55 %	+6 %
	Republican	John Reid	1,505,395	44 %	−6 %
	Write-in		8,678	0 %	+0 %
Total votes			3,414,177	100
Turnout
Registered electors
	Democratic gain from Republican