Ghazala Hashmi Becomes 1st Indian-Origin Muslim Lt Governor Of Virginia: Who Is She?

Virginia: Indian-origin Democrat leader Ghazala Hashmi made history on Wednesday by winning the Virginia Lieutenant Governor's election, becoming the first Indian-origin Muslim woman to be elected to the post.

Further, Ghazala is also the first South Asian American to serve the post in Virginia Senate.

Ghazala won the elections by defeating Republican candidate John Reid, who is a former talk show host and the state’s first gay statewide nominee. While Ghazala secured 14,65,634 votes, John Reid ended up with 12,32,242 votes.

WHO IS SHE?

Hashmi is a 61-year-old woman who was born in Hyderabad in 1964. She lived in the city's Malakpet area, before moving to the United States of America with her mother and her older brother when she was four years old. The family moved to America to join Ghazala's father in Gerogia, where he was completing his PhD in international relations. Ghazala entered politics in 2019 when she was first elected to Virginia Senate.

Educational Background

Ghazala grew up in Georgia and graduated as valedictorian of her high school class. She received multiple scholarships and fellowships and completed her B.A. with honours from Georgia Southern University. Later, she did her PhD in American literature from Emory University in Atlanta.

Academic Career

Ghazala worked as a professor for nearly 30 years. She first taught at the University of Richmond, before teaching at Reynolds Community College, where she also served as the Founding Director of the Centre for Excellence in Teaching and Learning (CETL).

Husband

Ghazala Hashmi is married to Azhar Rafiq. The couple has two daughters named Yasmin and Noor. Both the daughters graduated from Chesterfield County Public Schools and the University of Virginia.

Legislative Priorities

As per her official page, Ghazala is an advocate of inclusive values and social justice and her legislative priorities include “public education, voting rights and the preservation of democracy, reproductive freedom, gun violence prevention, the environment, housing, and affordable healthcare access”.

In another historic win for an Indian-origin politician, Zohran Mamdani defeated former governor Andrew Cuomo and Republican candidate Curtis Sliwa to become the first Muslim Mayor of New York.

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