Our Bureau
Chesterfield, VA
State Sen. Ghazala Hashmi, (D-Chesterfield), officially launched her campaign to become the Democratic nominee for lieutenant governor in Virginia in 2025. Hashmi was widely expected to enter the race ahead of her official announcement this week. Hashmi works at Reynolds Community College and was inspired to get involved in politics by Donald Trump’s travel ban targeting Muslims in 2017. Hashmi flipped her state Senate seat in 2019.
“As a mother of two girls and as someone who won the ‘Defender of Choice’ award in 2023, I have fought hard to protect reproductive healthcare and will continue to secure reproductive rights in Virginia as lieutenant governor,” Hashmi said in her campaign announcement.
Hashmi said she does not view the post as a launchpad to the governorship, but as a way to expand her role in Richmond’s upper chamber, where Democrats have a 21-19 edge.
Hashmi has championed legislation to protect reproductive freedoms, such as bolstering access to birth control in Virginia, and the issue looks to be a centerpiece of her campaign.
“Sen. Hashmi enters the race as a serious candidate for LG,” said Stephen Farnsworth, a political science professor at the University of Mary Washington. “She has an effective track record as a legislator in Richmond. Her focus on health concerns provides a specific appeal to the many Democratic primary voters concerned about the affordability and availability of health care.”
Hashmi was born in India and moved with her family at age of four to the United States, where her father taught political science at Georgia Southern University, where she eventually earned an undergraduate degree.
“I’m running to solidify the Democratic brick wall as our next Lieutenant Governor,” Hashmi said. “We need an accomplished, progressive Senator to do just that.”
