(RNS) — While Zohran Mamdani’s ascent to New York City’s mayoral seat marked a historic turning point for the city and its more than a million Muslims, in Virginia, Ghazala Hashmi, a Democrat who was elected as lieutenant governor, made her own history as the first Muslim woman ever elected to statewide office in the United States.
“This was possible,” she said in her victory speech Tuesday night (Nov. 4), “because of the depth and breadth of the opportunities made available in this country and in the commonwealth.”
Hashmi secured 55.1% of the vote in a competitive race against Republican John Reid, a conservative former talk show host.
Born in Hyderabad, India, and raised in Georgia, Hashmi, 61, had already made history as the first Muslim and first South Asian woman elected to Virginia’s Senate, representing Richmond, in 2019. As in that race, she campaigned for lieutenant governor with an agenda that was more progressive than her competitors in June’s Democratic primary, then took 55% of the vote on Election Day after promising to boost funding for public education and to stand up to President Donald Trump.
“The devastation that we’ve seen from the second Trump administration has far exceeded anyone’s expectations,” she told Religion News Service in late October. “We need to have strong, competent, as well as seasoned, individuals in place guiding states at t …