Ghazala Hashmi

Senator Ghazala Hashmi is the first Muslim and the first South Asian American to serve in the Virginia Senate. As an experienced educator and advocate of inclusive values and social justice, 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.

First elected to office in November 2019, Ghazala won an upset victory over a Republican incumbent, delivering the majority to Democrats for the first time in years and shocking the political establishment. In 2024, because of the confidence her Democratic colleagues have in her, she was named Chair of the Senate Education and Health Committee, a crucial leadership post for two critical Democratic priorities, reproductive freedom and public education.

As a state Senator, Ghazala has dedicated her efforts to improving the lives of others, focusing on issues of inequity in housing, education, health care, environmental justice, and much more.