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June 24th Len’s Political Note #734 Ghazala Hashmi Virginia Lt Governor
2025 General Election
Ghazala Hashmi
During the Vietnam War, there were movements to ensure that every young man was equally liable to the draft. Those efforts eventually led to the birthday lottery for who would be drafted.
As a graduate student at Harvard, my wife ran into a peculiar variant of that movement. Many Harvard undergraduate favored the idea of equal liability to the draft. A few, however, favored exempting students from Harvard. They asked “Where would the leaders come from?”
In response, my wife pointed to the alma mater of the United States President at the time — Southwest Texas State Teachers College? Leaders in the United States do not necessarily come from the Ivy League universities or regional equivalents, nor even necessarily from the flagship state universities.
Ghazala Hashmi comes from Georgia Southern. Born in Hyderabad, India, her family moved to the United States when she was four years old. She grew up in Statesboro, Georgia where her father studied and then taught at Georgia Southern. His daughter got her BA there.
Ghazala Hashmi moved on to Emory University, Georgia’s Ivy League equivalent. An Indian Muslim, she got her MA and PhD at Emory, writing her thesis about the Unitarian poet William Carlos Williams. She settled in. Initially, she taught at the University of Richmond. She spent her career, though, teaching at the J. Sargeant Reynolds Community College in Richmond where she founded and led the Center for Excellence in Teaching and Learning, focused on helping faculty teach well.
Ghazala Hashmi became part of the 2018 movement of women into politics in reaction to the election of Donald Trump as president. Ghazala Hashmi has told us her run for Lt. Governor had the same motivation as her 2019 run for the Virginia State Senate: “to speak out and stand up for individuals and communities that have been historically and systemically marginalized.”
In 2019, Ghazala Hashmi upset a favored incumbent Republican state Senator. She explained in a WAVY.com interview: “I met and worked with a very diverse and wide range of people that included traditional students, working adults, veterans, returning citizens, new immigrants, and many others. Every day in my classroom, the full array of Virginia’s diverse communities was in front me, building relationships while also seeking pathways for education and economic opportunity. I ran for the state senate because I saw my students’ needs and the dramatic impact that President Trump’s first term was having on my students’ lives. Sadly, the situation is even more difficult for so many Americans in President Trump’s second term.”
She further explained: “I have spent the past six years in the State Senate standing up and leading on critical issues such as reproductive freedom, protecting access to contraception, funding our public schools and supporting our teachers, and working to protect our economy and jobs. As a two-term State Senator and as the Chair of the Senate Education and Health Committee, I have more legislative experience than my opponents combined, which [experience] is critical for the President of the Senate, the principal role of the Lieutenant Governor… .
Ghazala Hashmi has been clear about her support for labor and her opposition to Virginia’s Right to Work statute. She said: “I will continue to support efforts to repeal “Right to Work” at every opportunity. States that do not have restrictive “right to work” laws generally offer better working conditions and outcomes for employees. Currently in Virginia, our “right to work” restrictions affect wages, benefits, and overall job quality. … Many workers and most members of the general public do not understand how effective labor laws and protections are central to better economic outcomes, expansion of the middle class, and more opportunities for the majority of the people.”
Ghazala Hashmi won the 2025 Democratic primary for Lt. Governor in Richmond, taking victory away from Levar Stoney, the former mayor of the city. She points to herself as someone who has been an integral part of the Richmond community for 30 years. She won the primary by 4,100 votes; relying largely on her 10,000+ vote margin in Richmond. Some of Ghazala Hashmi’s victory had to do with Mayor Levar Stoney’s weakness with the people who knew him best – whether they were conscious of problems with the city’s water supply or his failed casino proposal or something else.
Ghazala Hashmi and Attorney General candidate Jay Jones (See Len’s Political Note #734) are part of a unified ticket led by former Congresswoman, former member of the CIA Abigail Spanberger (See Len’s Political Note #705). The Democrats could relish that diversity: A Protestant white woman for Governor; a Muslim, South Asian woman for Lt. Governor, and a Roman Catholic Black man for Attorney General. This ticket is composed of a gubernatorial candidagte too formidable for primary opposition and down ballot candidates who won their primaries. No one selected them for their diversity.
The Republican ticket is equally diverse. They just don’t think it is a virtue. Their candidate for governor is an Evangelical Protestant Black woman. Their candidate for Lt. Governor is a gay white man. Their candidate for Attorney General is the incumbent., a white Episcopalian Christian son of a Cuban immigrant.
The Republican candidates have had trouble getting themselves together in the same room – largely because the candidate for governor strongly disapproves of homosexuality. Supporting her, the term-limited governor, Glenn Youngkin, tried to get John Reid to withdraw his candidacy for Lt. Governor. Reid, the only remaining Republican candidate refused, garnering some support for his stubbornness.
He promises to put his stubbornness and his experience in the culture war battles as a podcaster to work if elected Lt. Governor. He announced that if Democrats seek to place reproductive rights, voting rights, and same sex marriage rights into Virginia’s constitution and if there is a tie vote on any of those in the Senate, he would vote no.
All of those amendments will show up on the Senate floor. These proposed amendments have to pass twice before being put before the people for a vote.
John Reid does not begin with those culture war issues. His top goal, according to his website, is to seek a pro-business environment through lower taxes and fewer regulations. He has denounced Democrats who, he claims, demonize the police. He insists educators make children into radical activists. He says he would have children learn to think. As for difficult decisions about children’s education, those should be left to. parents. He adds his support for preserving Virginia’s heritage; support which seems to mean keeping statues of confederate heroes. He makes his campaign about a lot of cultural issues.
Ghazala Hashmi’s top tier issues are reproductive freedom, protecting people from gun violence, and fighting bigotry. She says: “…As the last Southern state that has not severely restricted abortion access, we have a responsibility to ensure that all people, from Virginia or elsewhere, have access to the safe and legal health care they need and deserve.” … . Gun violence is now the number one killer of our children… I strongly support universal background checks, safe storage laws, strengthened red flag laws, and a ban on assault weapons which are weapons of war…. . We have a fundamental responsibility to fight hatred wherever we see it and to ensure that this country’s ideals of justice, equality, and fairness are a reality for all. Ghazala Hashmi’s second tier of priorities begins with Jobs and Education.
It is not just that Ghazala Hashmi is conversant with and supportive of Democratic positions. She is a forceful and persuasive advocate. In Virginia, the Lt. Governor is particularly important. The Governor is limited to a one year term. The Lt. Governor is inevitably considered seriously for the step up to Governor. DONATE. Help Ghazala Hamshi get elected.
In 2026 there are a few Lt. Governor races in states where the Lt. Governor runs separately from the Governor. (New Jersey does not have a 2025 race for Lt. Governor. That office is filled by an appointee by the Governor). Here are two races to pay attention to.
Josh McLaurin
Georgia. is a state where the Lt. Governor is nominated separately from the Governor and runs a separate campaign besides. So far, the Republicans have four candidates. The Democrats have one. Go ahead. Behave as if only one Democrat is ready and willing to run for Lt. Governor of Georgia. Help State Senator Josh McLaurin be in a position to oppose whoever survives the Republican slugfest.
Josh McLaurin once posted statements by his former law school housemate. If the posting is accurate, this is what the housemate said: “I go back and forth between thinking Trump is a cynical asshole like Nixon who wouldn’t be that bad (and might even prove useful) or that he’s America’s Hitler. How’s that for discouraging?” That former house mate to whom the statement is attributed is not at all discouraged now. He is the Vice President of the United States.
As a four term State Senator, filling the seat the Jimmy Carter once held, Josh McLauren has been known for two things: 1. His disdain for President Donald Trump and his disdain for the Republican reflexive followers of Donald Trump. 2. His sharp wit that he sometimes uses to demonstrate #1 above. DONATE. Yale Law School graduate, Josh McLauren could make a case for himself in Georgia.
Vikki Goodwin
Texas. Unlike Georgia, there is only one Republican candidate for Lt. Governor – the incumbent Dan Patrick. Unlike Georgia and unlike all the other states in the country, Texas’s Lt. Governor is a powerful figure. The Texas Lt. Governor presides over the Senate on a daily basis. The Lt. Governor establishes all Senate committees, special and standing; appoints all committee members including the chairs; chooses the committee through which each particular piece of legislation is considered, makes decisions about all matters of parliamentary procedure as well as other procedural matters. In addition, the Lt. Governor is an ex officio member of several state boards.
No wonder Dan Patrick is happy to stay put as Lt. Governor. Unusually, he took his wife’s family name for his own. Formerly a flamboyant broadcaster and sports bar owner, he returned to radio after a bankruptcy. An Evangelical Christian and conservative, he brought those qualities to his work as talk show host. Strikingly popular, he was elected to the state senate in 2006 and at Lt. Governor in 2014. Think of a conservative culture issue, Dan Patrick favored it and helped the Senate make it law.
Dan Patrick has a Democratic opponent, Realtor and State Rep Vikki Goodwin of Austin. Is it conceivable that Texans would elect a liberal from Austin to replace Dan Patrick? She does not emphasize the cultural issues. Instead, she focuses on Dan Patrick’s corruption and such broad issues as housing affordability, access to water and energy, access to health care, and providing high quality public education rather than vouchers.
Vikki Goodwin needs a start to give Texas donors a sense that she can compete. You cannot make up the difference in resources all at once. Dan Patrick begins his campaign with $33 million available for his campaign. DONATE now. Give Vikki Goodwin a good beginning.
