The first Muslim woman in the country to win statewide office has Georgia roots

In 1969, when Ghazala Hashmi moved to Statesboro, there was “nothing there,” said her mother, Tanveer: “There were very few grocery stores, and they had been closed at six o’clock. One or two stores for clothes and some other stuff.” At the time, Ghazala was four years old. Tanveer had brought her and her older brother from their native India to join Ghazala’s father, Zia Hashmi, who had moved to the U.S. a few years before and accepted a position as a political science professor at Georgia Southern University.

Now it’s Ghazala who’s got a new job: On November 4, she was elected Virginia’s lieutenant governor, having run on promises to fight Trump’s agenda and increase funding for education. Ghazala made history as the first Muslim woman in the country to win a statewide election, though, as a member of the Senate of Virginia since 2020, she’s already a familiar face in state politics. Her ascendance to the number two office comes amid a rise in prominence of Muslim candidates across the U.S.—not just in New York City, where Zohran Mamdani was overwhelmingly elected mayor, but also in states like Georgia, where in recent years four Muslim lawmakers have joined the state legislature. One of them, Ruwa Romman, is now running for governor. 

In Statesboro, Tanveer recalled, the Hashmis were the only Muslim family around, and one of just two Indian families. In the beginning, it was “very hard for us,” she said. When Ghazala started kindergarten, “she was very much upset. She was telling her daddy, Papa, children don’t like me. They don’t play with me. I’m alone by myself. I play over there, outside in the playground, and nobody talked to me.”

The rural town, an hour’s drive from Savannah, was made up of university students and employees, as well as farmers, said Tanveer. Over time, it came to feel like home. Ghazala adjusted to school by first grade, the South Asian community grew, and the Hashmi family’s relationships with Zia’s academic colleagues grew stronger. The Hashmis ended up staying in Statesboro for 30 years.

After completing an undergraduate degree at Georgia Southern, Ghazala pursued a PhD in English literature at Emory University. When her parents visited, they’d stop at Your DeKalb Farmer’s Market for staples like lentils, rice, and spices, as well as Indian clothing shops at Patel Plaza. “I used to buy sarees. I always wore sarees at home and at night and parties all the time,” Tanveer said. “I had so many, I collected so many sarees.”

Last Tuesday, when the results of Ghazala’s race came in, the family’s old friends in Statesboro were among the first to reach out and congratulate Tanveer on her daughter’s win. “They were so happy. They are very nice people.” Ghazala’s young nieces, who live in Decatur with Ghazala’s cousin, Aiman Muneer, are also among her fans. “Ghazala baji was always a role model for us younger cousins,” Aiman said. Now, 25 years later, “my daughters look up to her and are truly inspired to achieve the seemingly impossible.” He added, “We celebrated with ice cream at Brusters!”  

The excitement carried across the globe to their native Hyderabad: “Now she got so famous in India, cities, everybody knows her name” said Tanveer. 

Though Ghazala was always an enthusiastic student—and was exposed to her father’s discussions about politics from an early age—Tanveer never expected her daughter would run for office. She remembers when Ghazala told the family over dinner that she would run for senator in Virginia in 2019, her foray into politics inspired by the “Muslim ban” of Donald Trump’s first term as president. Tanveer’s late husband “was very much against it,” she recalled. But Ghazala was determined. 

Tanveer just celebrated her 86th birthday in Orlando, where she now lives with her younger daughter. In January, the whole family plans to go to Virginia for Ghazala’s swearing-in. 

“Everybody is very happy. I’m feeling very proud of her,” said Tanveer.