Born in Hyderabad in 1964 to Professor Zia Hashmi and Tanveer Hashmi, Ghazala spent her childhood at her maternal grandparents' residence in Malakpet, before her family shifted to the US in 1969.
Published Nov 05, 2025 | 4:59 PM ⚊ Updated Nov 05, 2025 | 4:59 PM
Ghazala Hashmi.
Synopsis: In 2019, Ghazala defeated sitting Republican Senator Glen Sturtevant in the 10th district, becoming the first woman to represent the district. She was re-elected in 2023 with over 60 percent of the votes against Republican Hayden Fisher. In May 2024, she announced her campaign for lieutenant general. She won the Democratic primary in June 2025, and defeated John Reid to become the first Asian American elected to a statewide office in Virginia.
Even as India celebrates the election of Zohran Mamdani as the mayor of New York City, Telangana is beaming for one more reason: Ghazala Hashmi, with roots in Malakpet, too, created history by winning the race to the office of the Lieutenant Governor in Virginia.
The Democrat is the first-ever Muslim woman of Indian origin to be elected as Lieutenant Governor in the US, even as her party colleague, Uganda-born Mamdani, became the first Muslim man of Indian origin to become a mayor in a US state.
Born in Hyderabad in 1964 to Professor Zia Hashmi and Tanveer Hashmi, Ghazala spent her childhood at her maternal grandparents’ residence in Malakpet, before her family shifted to the US in 1969. She was raised at Statesboro in Georgia, US, where she earned a Ph.D in English from Emory University.
Ghazala had been an educator and academic administrator for 25 years. She had also served as the founding director of the Centre for Excellence in Teaching and Learning of the J Sargeant Reynolds Community College.
In 2019, Ghazala defeated sitting Republican Senator Glen Sturtevant in the 10th district, becoming the first woman to represent the district. She was re-elected in 2023 with over 60 percent of the votes against Republican Hayden Fisher.
In May 2024, she announced her campaign for lieutenant general. She won the Democratic primary in June 2025, and defeated John Reid to become the first Asian American elected to a statewide office in Virginia.
Ghazala is married to Azhar Rafiq, and the couple has two daughters, Yasmin and Noor.
Congratulating Ghazala, BRS working president KT Rama Rao said, “This is massive! From Malakpet to Virginia.”
“Congratulations to Ghazala Hashmi on becoming the first Indian-American Lieutenant Governor of Virginia. There is nothing more beautiful when democracies celebrate diversity of the world,” he said on X.
This is massive! From Malakpet to Virginia.
Congratulations to Ghazala Hashmi on becoming the first Indian-American Lieutenant Governor of Virginia. There is nothing more beautiful when democracies celebrate diversity of the world pic.twitter.com/NZex5ac6jG
— KTR (@KTRBRS) November 5, 2025
