Ghazala Hashmi of Virginia says Trump’s harmful and unpopular policies fueled Democratic victories

Jeff Bennett:

And now let’s hear from one of last night’s winners.

Earlier today, William Brangham spoke with the winner of Virginia’s race for lieutenant governor about the issues that fueled her win and those that consolidated Democratic gains across the country.

William Brangham:

Last night, state Sen. Ghazala Hashmi defeated Republican former conservative radio host John Reed. She will take over as Virginia’s second-in-command next year.

Lieutenant Governor-elect, congratulations on your victory last night. And thank you so much for being here on the show.

GAZALA HASHMI (D-Va.), Lt. Governor-elect: Well, thank you very much. Happy to join you.

William Brangham:

In my victory speech last night, I talked about the challenges that Virginia faces, and I mentioned that some of them, as I said, were generations-old challenges.

What do you see as the biggest problems facing your state in the future?

Ghazala Al Hashemi:

Well, the immediate challenges we face here in Virginia are actually exacerbated by what’s happening in Washington these days.

Virginia is home to tens of thousands of federal employees. The DOGE cuts that began in January of this year have had a tremendous impact on many Virginians. Job losses have impacted Northern Virginia’s economy, but more importantly, they have seriously impacted the lives of many of our citizens.

On top of that, we now have a worsening crisis in the form of the federal shutdown, which is creating many hardships for those same families, but it’s also accelerating the problems that we’re seeing on a variety of issues, whether it’s access to health care, cuts to SNAP benefits, and many of our issues related to rising costs.

These are the immediate concerns we face here in Virginia.

William Brangham:

A lot of the narrative around your win in Virginia and other Democrats across the country was that this was a repudiation of the Trump administration. What do you think about this analysis?

Ghazala Al Hashemi:

And I think, for us here in the Commonwealth, that’s certainly a very important part of it. Donald Trump’s policies are unpopular, especially because of the extensive damage we have seen on the ground here.

We have run our candidates, myself included, on issues that impact Virginia families. I’ve been speaking to voters and Virginians for the past 20 months. The cost of health care has risen, affordable housing has become inaccessible, and crises of job losses and troubling issues around child care have worsened.

All of these concerns were actually part of the conversations I had. By contrast, our opponents ran on messages of intolerance, xenophobia and scapegoating. This is not a winning message.

William Brangham:

Your new governor, Abigail Spanberger, told us before the election that when we asked her about working with the Trump administration, she said she didn’t really see a way to do that, likening it to working with an arsonist who had just burned down the building.

How do you see your role and role in working with the administration in Washington?

Ghazala Al Hashemi:

Well, one of the things that we’ve seen across states with Democratic leadership is the opportunity to build coalitions and push back against the unconstitutional actions and direct attacks that we’re seeing coming out of the Trump White House.

And now that we have Democratic leadership here in Virginia at the top with the governor, the attorney general and myself, we’re able to join those other states that have filed suit after suit and challenged what the administration is doing.

We saw this especially last week, when more than 20 Democratic-led states filed a lawsuit over cuts to SNAP benefits. Two federal judges upheld that lawsuit and are now demanding that those vital resources be spent on SNAP costs.

And that is the ability that we have in this new administration to challenge the Trump White House, rather than capitulate to it in the ways that we have seen our current governor and attorney general do.

William Brangham:

I just want to ask you one personal question.

She made history last night, not only as the first Muslim woman elected statewide in Virginia, but also as the first Muslim woman elected statewide anywhere in the country. I mean, I imagine that on some level you would rather your faith not be an issue at all. But, personally, I wonder, what does this moment feel like for you?

Ghazala Al Hashemi:

Well, it’s a tremendous feeling, especially because of the reactions and responses that I’m hearing, not just from Virginians, but from all over the country, especially from young women, and women who come from diverse backgrounds and other faith traditions.

They see opportunity, they value representation, and they know how important it is to have diverse voices at every level of government and also in those places where our views and representation have historically been lacking. They understand this value. I am very happy to be the first. But I know for sure that I won’t be the last.

The work we do here in Virginia truly represents the growing diversity of all of our communities and the need to ensure that multiple perspectives, backgrounds, and ethnicities are truly present when making decisions.

William Brangham:

Well, this is Lieutenant Governor-elect Ghazala Hashmi of Virginia.

Thank you very much for joining us.

Ghazala Al Hashemi:

Thank you.