State Sen. Ghazala Hashmi declared victory in the Democratic primary for Virginia lieutenant governor, leading the six-person race with 27.5% of the vote Tuesday night.
The next closest candidates were former Richmond Mayor Levar Stoney, who had 26.7% of the vote, and state Sen. Aaron Rouse, who had 26.2% of the vote, with 96% of the votes counted. The Associated Press has not called the race.
“Today, we’ve made history yet again, not just by winning this primary, but by declaring with one voice that Virginia is not going to be bullied or broken or dragged backwards by the chaos that’s unfolding in Washington,” Hashmi said Tuesday night, addressing a group of about 50 supporters at a condo complex’s clubhouse in Richmond.
Hashmi is the first Muslim and South Asian-American elected to the state senate and would be the first Muslim on a statewide ticket in Virginia. She took office in 2020 and said she was initially inspired to run in reaction to anti-Muslim rhetoric from President Donald Trump.
“Now, we don’t have time for small plans or soft voices,” she added, nodding to her critics who have described her as too soft spoken. “We need spines of steel. We’re facing a pivotal moment in our history, and while MAGA-driven Republican ticket might try to take our state backwards, I’m running, and you’re running with me with the unshakable belief in what Virginia can be.”
Stoney said the race was not over and did not immediately concede. If the race is within a percentage point, candidates can request a recount that they pay for; if the totals are within 0.5%, the state will pay for a recount.
But Abigail Spanberger, the Democratic nominee for governor, posted her congratulations to Hashmi on social media Tuesday night.
“As a proven leader in the Virginia Senate, Senator Hashmi has passed legislation that’s delivered economic investment, improved schools, protected healthcare, and defended reproductive freedom,” Spanberger wrote.
The winner of Tuesday’s Democratic primary election will become the nominee for lieutenant governor and will face the Republican nominee, conservative radio host John Reid, in the general election for the position in November.
At time of writing, about 540,000 votes had been counted with 131 of 133 localities reporting.
That’s comparable to the 2021 statewide primary, where about half a million people voted in the Democratic primary, according to the Virginia Public Access Project.
It was an expensive race. VPAP reported that Democratic candidates for lieutenant governor cumulatively raised about $7.6 million. Stoney raised about $2.1 million, and Rouse and Hashmi each raised about $1.8 million.
Hashmi currently serves as chair of the Senate Education and Health Committee. Before she was a legislator, she was a college professor at the University of Richmond and Reynolds Community College. She was endorsed by abortion rights and climate groups.
Originally from York County, Stoney served as the mayor of Richmond from 2017 through 2024. Before that, he was secretary of commonwealth in Gov. Terry McAuliffe’s administration. Stoney said previously that those roles prepared him well to run as lieutenant governor and touted his decision to remove Confederate monuments on city property after the 2020 Black Lives Matter protests.
The former mayor received criticism after city police tear gassed those same protesters. And, critics blamed Stoney for January’s water crisis that left much of the city without drinkable water just days after he left office. On the campaign trail, Stoney deflected some of the blame to his predecessor Dwight Jones, according to reporting from the Richmond Times-Dispatch.
Stoney pulled some big name endorsements, including McAuliffe, former Secretary of Transportation Pete Buttigieg and actor Levar Burton.
Rouse is a state senator representing Virginia Beach, from where he originally hails. A former professional football player and Virginia Beach City Council member, Rouse took office in 2023 after a special election. He was preceded by Rep. Jen Kiggans, a Republican.
This legislative session, Rouse sponsored the Senate version of the Save Local Pharmacies Act, which realigns the state’s Medicaid pharmacy benefit under a single state-contracted pharmacy benefit manager (PBM). That law takes effect July 5.
Reid, the Republican nominee for lieutenant governor, had raised just over $300,000 between January and June of this year. John Curran, who failed to qualify for the ballot but is running a write-in campaign for lieutenant governor, had raised more than $1 million.
In Virginia, the lieutenant governor and governor are elected separately, meaning they do not run on a shared ticket and it’s possible — though rare — for two different parties to occupy those positions. Current Lt. Gov. Winsome Earle-Sears, the Republican nominee for governor, has not yet appeared alongside Reid, though the Republicans did not hold a primary this year.
Kate Seltzer, 757-713-7881, kateseltzer@virginiamedia.com
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