Hyderabad, Nov 5 (NationPress) In a groundbreaking achievement, Ghazala Hashmi, born in Hyderabad, has made history by clinching victory in the Virginia Lt Governor race. She becomes the first Muslim, the first South Asian American, and the first woman of Indian origin to attain this position.

Six years post her historic win as a Virginia state Senator, the 61-year-old Democrat further distinguished herself by defeating Republican John Reid in the Lt Governor race.

She will take over from Republican Winsome Earle-Sears, the inaugural woman to serve in this role.

Ghazala Firdous Hashmi was born in Hyderabad in 1964 to Tanveer and Zia Hashmi. During her early years, she resided with her maternal grandparents in the Malakpet area.

Her maternal grandfather held a position in the Finance Department of the Andhra Pradesh government.

At the age of four, she, along with her mother and elder brother, relocated to the United States to join her father, who was pursuing a PhD in international relations in Georgia and embarking on his teaching career, as per her website profile.

Growing up in a small college town during the desegregation of public schools, Ghazala witnessed how communities can be fostered and dialogue encouraged through deliberate efforts to bridge cultural, racial, and socioeconomic gaps.

She attended the Marvin Pittman Laboratory School at Georgia Southern University, where her father and uncle both taught in the political science department.

Ghazala obtained a Bachelor of Arts in English from Georgia Southern University and later earned her PhD in American literature from Emory University in Atlanta.

In 1991, Ghazala and her husband, Azhar, moved to the Richmond area, where she dedicated nearly 30 years to academia, initially at the University of Richmond and subsequently at Reynolds Community College, where she established and directed the Center for Excellence in Teaching and Learning (CETL).

They have two adult daughters who graduated from Chesterfield County Public Schools and the University of Virginia.

Her foray into politics was profoundly influenced by Donald Trump’s travel ban targeting several Muslim-majority nations, motivating her to advocate for inclusion and equality in American governance.

In November 2019, she won a seat in the Virginia state senate, unseating incumbent Republican Senator Glen Sturtevant. She became the first Muslim-American woman and the first Indian-American to join the Virginia state Senate.

As a seasoned educator and proponent of inclusive values and social justice, her legislative agenda includes public education, voting rights, democracy preservation, reproductive freedom, gun violence mitigation, environmental sustainability, housing, and access to affordable healthcare.

As a state Senator, Ghazala has committed herself to improving the lives of others, concentrating on issues of inequity in housing, education, healthcare, environmental justice, and more.

In 2024, she was appointed Chair of the Senate Education and Health Committee, a vital leadership role for two key Democratic priorities: reproductive freedom and public education.

Meanwhile, K. T. Rama Rao, Working President of Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) and former Telangana minister, praised Hashmi’s election as Virginia's Lieutenant Governor.

This is monumental! From Malakpet to Virginia. Congratulations to Ghazala Hashmi for being the first Indian-American Lieutenant Governor of Virginia. It’s a beautiful moment when democracies embrace global diversity,” Rama Rao posted on X.