Indian-American Democrat Ghazala Hashmi has become the first Muslim woman to be elected to the Virginia State Senate following her stunning victory over sitting Republican Senator Republican Glen Sturtevant.
Following her win in Tuesday's election, Hashmi will now represent Virginia's 10th Senate district. The race was one of the most watched contests in the state as the Democrats were looking to flip the Senate by cutting the narrow 20-19 Republican edge, reports The American Bazaar.
Hashmi was born in India and emigrated to the US as a child with her family. She is also a former director of the Center for Excellence in Teaching & Learning at Reynolds Community College.
Her impressive win in her first ever campaign for a public office shows that Hashmi may have struck the right note with the voters. She feels strongly about gun violence in the country and actively campaigned against it.
Hashmi dedicated her win to her supporters with a tweet saying it belonged to all those who believed in the need for "progressive change in Virginia".
"This victory, is not mine alone. It belongs to all of you who believed that we needed to make progressive change here in Virginia, for all of you who felt that you haven't had a voice and believed in me to be yours in the General Assembly," she tweeted on Tuesday night.
In another tweet, she also admired the state's willingness to make the change. "Today we sent a message that the status quo is no longer accepted," she wrote.
"Thank you all for your support and passion in helping me become the next state Senator for Virginia's 10th District! I couldn't be more honoured to be a part of the change to come for Virginia."
Hashmi also reached out to her voters through social media to inform them about the causes that she would be undertaking, The American Bazaar reported.
"After flipping the Senate, I'll have Democrats by my side to fight to protect Virginians from the climate crisis and senseless gun violence, and work to expand our access to affordable health care and funding for public education," she wrote.
"I can't wait to work together in the state Senate."