Muslim Democratic women become first to take seats in Virginia Senate

Democratic Party candidates Ghazala Hashmi and Abrar Omeish made history in the Virginia polls on Wednesday, becoming the first Muslim women to hold elected office in the state.

In a surprise victory, Hashmi unseated incumbent Republican Glen Sturtevant to replace him in the state Senate, and Omeish clinched a seat on the Fairfax County School board.

Omeish, 24, is also the youngest women to hold an elected position in the state’s history.

Hashmi is the first Muslim woman to be elected to Virginia’s Senate. Two Muslim men, the Democrats Ibraheem Samirah and Sam Rasoul currently serve in Virginia’s General Assembly. 

The women’s victories were part of a big win for the Democrats in the state, who managed to flip both houses of the state legislature in the once-conservative Southern state.

“Today we sent a message that the status quo is no longer accepted,” a triumphant Hashmi wrote on Twitter. 

Abrar Omeish, alongside fellow DemocratsKaren Keys-Gamarra and Racna Sizemore Heizer, won the three seats on the Fairfax County School Board. She made her own youth and her campaign's youth a big part of her identity, and her campaign had 13 high school students on her campaign staff working on field operations and policy.

“Abrar’s campaign worked hard to elevate young voices and those of underserved and underrepresented communities, proactively reaching out to constituencies who have otherwise not been engaged by registering 1,500 new voters and training hundreds of new volunteers,” Omeish’s campaign said in a statement celebrating her victory.

“She strives towards facilitating a school system that believes fully in the potential of the leader in every child and believes that the investment in that child is worthwhile no matter their race, ethnicity, socioeconomic status, religion, gender, sexual orientation, or immigration status,” the campaign added.

Earlier in 2019, Omeish made the news after she was allegedly pepper sprayed and forced to remove her headscarf during a regular traffic stop. She told the Washington Post she had committed a traffic violation, but added that the officer used a disproportionate amount of force against her.

There were several Muslim women who made headlines in the United States on Tuesday, reported by the Huffington Post - Safiya Khalid became the first Somali-American to be elected in Maine to the Lewiston City Council, and Nadia Mohamed became the first Somali-American and the First Muslim to be elected to the St. Louis Park City Council in Minnesota. 

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