Democrat Ghazala F. Hashmi, a former English professor, faces Republican John Reid, a former conservative talk radio host. If elected, Hashmi would be the country’s first Muslim woman to win statewide office. If Reid prevails, he would be the nation’s first openly gay Republican elected to a statewide post.
Hashmi, 61, and Reid, 54, have hewed to party-line platforms and cast the contest as critical to defining Virginia’s polices during President Donald Trump’s term. Virginia’s lieutenant governor is elected separately from the governor and has a mostly ceremonial job with two main duties: breaking ties while presiding over the state Senate, and becoming governor if that office is vacated.
