As the Trump administration places immigration at the center of its campaign strategy, Democratic voters in Virginia have sent a strong message by selecting an immigrant as their nominee for lieutenant governor.
State Senator Ghazala Hashmi secured the Democratic nomination after a closely contested primary against several prominent candidates. The result was confirmed by the Associated Press and reported by Fox News on Wednesday.
Hashmi, who represents Chesterfield County and is originally from India, defeated several high-profile opponents, including former Richmond Mayor Levar Stoney, Virginia Beach State Senator and former NFL player Aaron Rouse, Prince William County School Board Chair Dr. Babur Lateef, and union leader Alexander Bastani.
As Fox News highlighted, Hashmi ran a clearly progressive campaign, focused on strengthening public education, defending abortion rights, and expanding access to affordable housing. On her campaign website, she stated she was “the only candidate endorsed by both abortion rights groups and labor unions,” according to Fox News.
Hashmi, who currently chairs the Virginia Senate’s Education and Health Committee, will face Republican nominee John Reid in the general election scheduled for November.
Now 60, Ghazala Firdous Hashmi immigrated to the United States before becoming a U.S. citizen. A Democrat representing Virginia’s 15th Senate district, she spent 25 years working in higher education as a professor and academic administrator before entering politics, according to her official biography.
If elected in November, Hashmi would become the first Indian-American to win a statewide election in Virginia. She would also be the first Muslim woman elected to a statewide office in the state’s history.
This election is considered a major political test in a state long viewed as a bellwether for national trends. Outgoing Republican Governor Glenn Youngkin is barred from seeking immediate re-election, as the Virginia Constitution prohibits consecutive gubernatorial terms.
