No Matter the Winner, Virginia Lt. Governor Race Set to Make History

Regardless of who wins, Virginia voters are poised to make state history on Tuesday by electing their first female governor. But they are also set to make national history in the down-ballot race for lieutenant governor, in which voters will choose either the first openly gay Republican or the first Muslim woman ever elected to statewide office in the United States. The Virginia lieutenant governor’s contest features Republican John Reid, a former talk-radio host, and Democrat Ghazala Hashmi, an educator who has served five years in the state Senate. Polls show Hashmi holding a narrow lead in the final days of the campaign. Read more: What to Watch For in NYC and Other Battlegrounds as Election Results Come In While the lieutenant governor’s job in Virginia is largely ceremonial and is elected separately from its governor, the role frequently serves as a stepping stone to higher office. The state’s last three lieutenant governors all ran for governor. Its main duties are breaking ties in the state Senate and taking over the Executive Mansion if the governor dies. Both Reid and Hashmi would become historic firsts if elected. Hashmi, who was born in India and raised in Georgia, had already made history as the first Muslim and first South Asian woman elected to Virginia’s General Assembly in 2019. After securing the Democratic nomination for lieutenant governor, she now has the chance of becoming the first person of South Asian descent to hold a statewide office in Virginia, and the first Muslim woman to hold a statewide office in the country. If she prevails, she would join a growing list of Muslim women to hold elected office, including Reps. Rashida Tlaib of Michigan and Ilhan Omar of Minnesota, who were elected to Congress in 2018. Hashmi, who represents part of the Richmond area in the state Senate, has campaigned on a more progressive agenda than the rest of the Democratic ticket. That’s prompted some Republicans to try to tie her to democratic socialist Zohran Mamdani, the Muslim Uganda-born Indian American running for mayor of New York City, a move Democrats and faith leaders have denounced as an attempt to stoke Islamophobia. Hashmi has largely ignored the comparisons, emphasizing instead what she calls Virginia’s growing embrace of diversity and inclusion. Read more: ‘A Politics of No Translation.’ Zohran Mamdani on His Unlikely Rise Meanwhile, Reid, whose father once served in the General Assembly, would be the first openly gay Republican elected to statewide office anywhere in the country, an achievement that would mark a notable turn for a party that has not always embraced gay candidates. While Republicans have aggressively leaned into anti-trans policies, they have softened their opposition to many gay rights issues in recent years. A small number of gay Republicans have also begun to occupy a more visible role in the party, including Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent and acting Kennedy Center president Richard Grenell—though neither were directly elected into their roles. Reid’s candidacy faced turmoil earlier this year, as Gov. Glenn Youngkin, a fellow Republican, publicly urged him to drop out of the race over allegations that he had reposted dozens of nude photos of men on a Tumblr account. Reid denied the allegations and refused to leave the race. According to the Victory Institute, which tracks openly LGBTQ elected officials, there are currently 30 openly LGBTQ Republicans holding office nationwide, the most prominent of which are four mayors of small towns. If Reid were elected, he would become the most high-profile elected gay Republican in the country. At the top of the ticket, Virginians are already guaranteed to make history by electing their first female governor, whether they choose Democrat Abigail Spanberger, a former member of Congress, or Republican Winsome Earle-Sears, the current lieutenant governor who would be the first Black woman elected governor of any state. Polls close at 7 p.m. on Tuesday in Virginia.