The race for Virginia’s lieutenant governor pits Republican John Reid, a one-time talk-radio host, against Democrat Ghazala Hashmi, an educator and five-year state senator. Surveys indicate Hashmi has a slight advantage as the campaign concludes.
Although the lieutenant governor position in Virginia is primarily ceremonial and filled through a separate election from the governor, it often acts as a pathway to more senior political roles. All of the state’s three most recent lieutenant governors pursued the governorship. Key responsibilities include resolving tie votes in the state Senate and assuming the governorship in the event of the governor’s death.
Should either Reid or Hashmi win, they would each achieve significant historical milestones.
Hashmi, born in India and brought up in Georgia, previously made history in 2019 as the first Muslim and first South Asian woman elected to the Virginia General Assembly. Having secured the Democratic nomination for lieutenant governor, she now stands to become the first person of South Asian heritage to hold a statewide office in Virginia, and the nation’s first Muslim woman to hold a statewide office.
Her victory would add her to an expanding roster of Muslim women in elected positions, alongside figures like Representatives Rashida Tlaib of Michigan and Ilhan Omar of Minnesota, both elected to Congress in 2018.
Representing a segment of the Richmond area in the state Senate, Hashmi has championed a more progressive platform compared to other Democrats on the ballot. This stance has led some Republicans to attempt to link her with democratic socialist Zohran Mamdani, the Muslim, Uganda-born Indian American mayoral candidate in New York City – a tactic Democrats and religious leaders have condemned as an effort to incite Islamophobia. Hashmi has mostly disregarded these comparisons, instead highlighting what she describes as Virginia’s increasing commitment to diversity and inclusion.
Conversely, Reid, whose father previously served in the General Assembly, would become the nation’s first openly gay Republican elected to a statewide office. This would signify a remarkable shift for a party not traditionally supportive of gay candidates. While Republicans have strongly pursued anti-trans policies, their stance on numerous gay rights issues has become less rigid in recent years. A limited number of gay Republicans are also assuming more prominent positions within the party, such as Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent and acting Kennedy Center president Richard Grenell—neither of whom obtained their roles through direct election.
Reid’s campaign encountered difficulties earlier this year when Governor Glenn Youngkin, a Republican colleague, publicly urged him to withdraw from the race. This request stemmed from accusations that Reid had reposted numerous nude images of men on a Tumblr account. Reid refuted these claims and declined to exit the competition.
The Victory Institute, an organization tracking openly LGBTQ elected officials, reports that 30 openly LGBTQ Republicans currently hold office across the nation, with the most recognizable being four mayors of small municipalities. Should Reid be elected, he would rise to become the highest-profile elected gay Republican in the United States.
At the top of the ballot, Virginia voters are assured to achieve a historical first by electing their inaugural female governor. This will happen regardless of whether they select Democrat Abigail Spanberger, a former Congress member, or Republican Winsome Earle-Sears, the incumbent lieutenant governor, who would become the first Black woman elected governor of any U.S. state.
Voting precincts in Virginia will close at 7 p.m. on Tuesday.