Four Indian-Americans, including a Muslim woman and a former White House technology policy advisor, have won state and local elections held in the United States .
According to a report by PTI, Indian-American Ghazala Hashmi, a former community college professor, created history by becoming the first Muslim woman to be elected to the Virginia State Senate, while Suhas Subramanyam, who served as the White House technology policy adviser to former president Barack Obama, has been elected to the Virginia State House of Representative.
In her maiden attempt, Hashmi, a Democrat, defeated incumbent Republican State Senator Glen Sturtevant for Virginia’s 10th Senate District, drawing national attention.
“This victory is not mine alone. It belongs to all of you who believed that we needed to make a 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 said after her historic victory.
In a tweet , The former secretary of state Hillary Clinton, who was the first woman presidential candidate, congratulated Hashmi.
I also want to shout out @Hashmi4Va, the first Muslim woman elected to the VA State Senate. As she said yesterday, her victory “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.”
— Hillary Clinton (@HillaryClinton) November 6, 2019
Hashmi, who had moved to the US from India as a young girl with her family 50 years ago, responded, saying, “I am deeply honoured by your words, Secretary Clinton. You broke so many glass ceilings for women in public service.”
She and her husband, Azhar, moved to the Richmond area in 1991. Hashmi has spent the past 25 years as a leading educator in Virginia’s college and university system. She currently serves as the founding director of the Center for Excellence in Teaching and Learning (CETL) at Reynolds Community College.
“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. I can’t wait to work together in the state Senate,” Hashmi said.
Suhas Subramanyam, who served as the White House technology policy adviser to former president Barack Obama, has been elected to the Virginia State House of Representative.
In California, Indian-American Mano Raju won his election to remain San Francisco’s Public Defender. Whereas in North Carolina, incumbent Dimple Ajmera won convincing re-election to Charlotte City Council.
