Ghazala Hashmi Height, Age, Husband, Children, Family, Biography

Bio/Wiki
Full Name	Ghazala Firdous Hashmi
Profession(s)	• Politician • Academic Administrator • Educator
Known For	Being the first Muslim and the first South Asian American to serve as Virginia's New Lieutenant Governor
Physical Stats
Height (approx.)	5' 3" (161cm)
Eye Colour	Light Brown
Hair Colour	Light Golden Brown
Politics
Political Party	Democratic Party
Political Journey	• 2019: Joined politics and ran for the Virginia Senate in District 10 • January 2020: Officially sworn in as State Senator representing District 10. • 2023: Re-elected to the Senate • May 2024: Announced her campaign for Lieutenant Governor of Virginia • June 2025: Won the Democratic primary for lieutenant governor • November 2025: Elected Lieutenant Governor of Virginia
Awards	• Edu-Futuro Leadership Award (2021) • Aligarh University Lifetime Achievement Award (2021) • VAIPL Champion of Justice (2022) • Sierra Club Environmental Hero (2022) • CCDC Chesterfield Champion (2022) • Multiple awards including VCASE Friend Award (2023) • FLAVA Friend Award (2023) • DAAV Fearless Leader Award (2023) • Virginia Promise Child Care Champion (2024) • CCAN Climate All Star (2024) • VEA Legislative Champion (2024) • Psychiatric Society Legislator of the Year(2024) • Colonel Michael S. Harris Award (2025) • Virginia ACTE Policymaker of the Year (2025)
Personal Life
Date of Birth	5 July 1964 (Sunday)
Age (as of 2025)	61 Years
Birthplace	Hyderabad, Telangana, India
Zodiac sign	Cancer
Nationality	American
Hometown	Richmond, Virginia, USA
School	Marvin Pittman Laboratory School, Georgia
College/University	• Georgia Southern University, Georgia • Emory University, Atlanta
Educational Qualification(s)	• A Bachelor of Arts in English from Georgia Southern University • Doctor of Philosophy in English from Emory University
Religion	Islam
Hobbies	Reading, Writing
Relationships & More
Marital Status	Married
Family
Husband/Spouse	Azhar Rafiq
Children	Son- None Daughter(s)- 2 • Yasmin Rafiq • Noor Rafiq
Parents	Father- Zia Hashmi (Professor) Mother- Tanveer Hashmi (Professor)
Siblings	Brother- 1 Sister- None

Some Lesser Known Facts About Ghazala Hashmi

• Ghazala Hashmi was born in Hyderabad, India, to a Hyderabadi Muslim family.

• During her childhood, she lived at her maternal grandparents’ home in Hyderabad. Her maternal grandfather served in the finance department of the Government of Andhra Pradesh.

• In 1969, at the age of four, she emigrated with her mother and older brother from India to the United States, where they joined her father in Georgia, as he was completing his PhD in international relations and beginning his university teaching career there.

• After moving to the USA, she grew up in Statesboro, Georgia.

• Ghazal Hashmi was a brilliant student. She completed her high school being the topper of the class and also earned many scholarships and fellowships.

• After completing her education, Ghazala started her professional career as a college professor.

• In 1991, Ghazala married Azhar Rafiq and moved to Richmond from Georgia.

• Before entering politics, she had worked as an educator and academic administrator for 25 years.

• During her teaching career, she had also served as a visiting assistant professor at the University of Richmond and at J. Sargeant Reynolds Community College. At J. Sargeant Reynolds Community College, she served as the founding director of the Center for Excellence in Teaching and Learning.

• In 2019, Hashmi entered politics. In the 2019 Virginia Senate election, Hashmi defeated incumbent Republican candidate Glen Sturtevant in the 10th district.

• After her win, she became the first woman to represent the district and the first Muslim elected to the Senate of Virginia.

• In 2023, she was re-elected to the Senate for the 15th district of Virginia. This time she won with over 60 % votes against the Republican candidate Hayden Fisher.

• After her win in the 2023 Virginia Senate election, she faced a legal lawsuit claiming that she did not meet the residency requirements to hold office. According to the lawsuit, she did not live in the district. Her main house is outside the boundary of the district, and she only rented an apartment to fulfill the residency requirements. However, later, a judge dismissed the lawsuit.

• In May 2024, Hashmi announced her candidacy for lieutenant governor of Virginia.

• In 2024, when Roe v. Wade, the right to have an abortion before the point of fetal viability, was overturned in the U.S. Supreme Court, Ghazala and delegate Marcia Price introduced the Right to Contraception Act, which includes a legal right to access and use of contraceptives, including oral contraceptive pills, intrauterine devices, and condoms, in Virginia. The act would also protect pharmacists and medical health providers from legal actions for providing contraception to patients. The bill was passed by the Virginia General Assembly, but was rejected by Governor Glenn Youngski. In 2025, the bill was passed by the Senate with some restrictions.

• In January 2025, Hashmi introduced a bill to end a cap on state funding for support positions in public schools, which would cost $1.1 billion.

• In April 2025, Ghazal Hashmi showed her support for removing Virginia’s right-to-work laws. In July 2025, she wrote she wrote an article in the Richmond Times-Dispatch and blamed President Donald Trump‘s federal worker layoff decision and claiming as the primary reason for Virginia’s drop from first to fourth place in CNBC’s 2025 “America’s Top States For Business” ranking.

• In 2025, Hashmi worked with Senator Creigh Deeds on a budget amendment that would protect Virginia if federal Medical aid funding was reduced.

• She also served as the chair of the Senate Education and Health Committee, where she supported keeping Virginia’s health insurance marketplace strong and ensured that people could still receive federal premium tax credits.

• 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.

• In June 2025, she won the Democratic primary for lieutenant governor of Virginia post defeating the party’s strong candidates, Richmond mayor Levar Stoney and fellow state senator Aaron Rouse, by a narrow margin.
  

  Ghazala Hashmi, during her election campaign

• In November 2025, Hashmi won the Virginia lieutenant governor’s race, where she defeated Republican John Reid.
  

  An Instagram post shared by Ghazala Hashmi, after her win

• After her win, Hashmi became the first Muslim and the first South Asian American to ever hold statewide office in Virginia.

• On 17 January 2026, she will assume her new post as the Lieutenant Governor of Virginia.