Virginia Election 2019: First Muslim Women Elected

FAIRFAX, VA — Democrats will take control of the Commonwealth's House, Senate and governership for the first time since 1993, but that wasn't the only milestone resulting from the Nov. 5 general election. Voters elected Virginia's first Muslim women to political office. Ghazala Hashmi will be Virginia's first female Muslim state legislator with her victory in the 10th Senate District. Abrar Omeish, 24, is also the youngest elected official in the state by winning an at-large seat on the Fairfax County School Board.

Hashmi defeated incumbent Glen Sturtevant in the 10th District, which includes part of Richmond City and Chesterfield County as well as all of Powhatan County. With all 70 precincts reporting, Hashmi won 43,806 votes, while Sturtevant had 36,811 votes. Sturtevant narrowly won in 2015 against his Democratic opponent, and Virginia Public Access Project designated the district as competitive.

Hashmi immigrated to the U.S. as a child and has worked in Virginia higher education for 25 years. She's currently the founding director of the Center for Excellence in Teaching and Learning at Reynolds Community College. In a statement released after the win, Hashmi thanked voters regardless of party affiliation and promised to work with Democrats on addressing climate change, gun violence, health care and public education.

"This victory, is not mine alone," reads the statement. "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."

Other Muslim state legislators are men — Ibraheem Samirah and Sam Rasoul serve in the Virginia House of Delegates.

Omeish will join the 12-member school board in Fairfax County, the state's most populous jurisdiction. With all 244 precincts reporting, she received 161,097 votes—the second most among at-large candidates. According to unofficial results, the other winners were Karen Keys-Gamarra and Rachna Sizemore Heizer. The school board is tasked with passing a budget each fiscal year and setting school policies.

Omeish said in a statement her campaign strived to "elevate young voices and those of underserved and underrepresented communities." A graduate of Fairfax County Public Schools, she has published policy briefs on budgeting, staff pay, mental health and other priorities on her campaign website. She told Patch in a previous interview some of her focuses are universal Pre-K and more resources for students, including for mental health.

Her team helped register 1,500 new voters over the course of the campaign.

"This campaign represents a local movement to set a new standard of public service-- to provide accessible and inclusive leadership that elevates and empowers all people to participate," she said in a statement. "Education is the starting point for all members of our community to access opportunity to meet their potential and we must fight to ensure that every child can succeed here."

Omeish had been in the news earlier this year after an encounter with Fairfax County Police. She accused police of using excessive force after she was stopped for a traffic violation. She also claimed she had to take off her headscarf when processed at the Fairfax County jail. A police spokesperson told The Washington Post Omeish had resisted arrest before an officer pepper sprayed her.