Democrat Ghazala Hashmi unseats incumbent Republican in Senate District 10

Katharine DeRosa, Contributing Writer

Democrat Ghazala Hashmi unseated Republican Incumbent Sen. Glen Sturtevant and won Virginia District 10. Hashmi is the first Muslim American to be elected into the Virginia Senate.

The Democrat claimed the seat with 55% of the vote. Sturtevant received 45% of the vote.

Hashmi, 57, is a community college administrator and resides in Chesterfield.

She aims to increase funding for public schools, provide better access to affordable health care and create affordable college tuition. A few of her aspirations for office include background checks for gun sales, environmental regulations, expanding internet access and adding paid family and medical leave.

Sturtevant served in Senate District 10 for 4 years. In 2015, he narrowly beat out Dan Gecker with 49.8% of the vote. Sturtevant, 37, is an attorney and resides in Midlothian.

Sturtevant’s main goals in office were to increase funding for public schools, a freeze on college tuition, increased access to affordable health care and lower taxes.

District 10 has been a consistently Republican district since 1998. When the district was redrawn in 2011, the Democratic party gained 15.1 points, but the Republicans still hold the majority by 18.6 points.

Senate District 10 includes western parts of Richmond and extends west into Powhatan. Chesterfield County contains 46.56% of the district, Richmond contains 39.98% of the district, and Powhatan County holds the remaining 14.07% of the district.

According to the Virginia Public Access Project, the eastern end of the district near Richmond tends to vote Democrat. The district is 69% white, 23% black, 6% Hispanic or Latino and 4% Asian.

The district is compiled by a majority of middle-aged people, with only 32% of the population under the age of 35.

Despite the Republican majority in the 10th District, 61% of voters selected Tim Kaine as U.S. Senator in 2018.