Lt. Gov. Ghazala Hashmi will be the guest speaker at the annual Holiday Luncheon of the LOW Democratic Club on Dec. 10.
The much-aticipated event will take place from noon to 2 p.m. at Kearney Pub at Old House Vineyards, 18351 Corkys Lane in Culpeper.
Lt. Gov. Hashmi was the first Muslim and the first South Asian American to serve in the Virginia Senate. As an experienced educator and advocate of inclusive values and social justice, her legislative priorities include public education, voting rights and the preservation of democracy, reproductive freedom, gun violence prevention, the environment, housing, and affordable healthcare access.
As a four year old, Ghazala emigrated with her mother and older brother from India to the United States where they joined her father in Georgia just as he was completing his PhD in international relations and beginning his university teaching career. Ghazala grew up in that small college town, at a time when public schools were being desegregated, and so she saw firsthand how communities can be built and dialogue promoted through intentional efforts to bridge cultural, racial, and socioeconomic divides. After graduating as valedictorian of her high school class and receiving multiple full scholarships and fellowships, Ghazala earned a BA with honors from Georgia Southern University and her PhD in American literature from Emory University in Atlanta.
Ghazala and her husband, Azhar, moved as newlyweds to the Richmond area in 1991, and she spent nearly 30 years as a professor, first teaching at the University of Richmond and then at Reynolds Community College. While at Reynolds, she also served as the Founding Director of the Center for Excellence in Teaching and Learning (CETL). She and Azhar have two adult daughters who both graduated from Chesterfield County Public Schools and the University of Virginia.
The cost of the luncheon is $30 per person, which includes a plated entree with a side salad and dessert buffet as well as water and a self-service coffee bar. A cash bar will also be available.
Please select your choice of four available entrees at the time of registration.
Smoked Duck Salad — Field greens tossed with dried seasonal fruits, pickled red onions, crumled goat cheese, and toasted almonds
Roast Beef Crostini — Herb roasted and sliced over crostini with a caramelized onion and Old House Bacchanaliademi-grace served with a side house salad
Quiche — Homemade carmelized onion and gruyere quiche with a side house salad
Grilled Salmon — Grilled salmon, creamy polenta, superfood claw and roasted red pepper sauce
Dessert Buffet — Assorted mini desserts: sea salt caramel brownies, lemon bars, pecan bars and chocolate chunk cookies.
Payment may be made online by clicking the “Pay Now” button below or by sending a check to P.O. Box 1351, Locust Grove, VA 22508. No payments will be accepted at the door per Old House catering policy.
If you pay online, be aware that the club will incur a transaction fee. Please consider offsetting this fee by paying by check or by including the fee with your payment.
Updating the Constitution
Virginia’s 2026 General Election ballot will include three Constitutional Amendments that will enshrine important civil rights into the state Constitution — marriage equality, reproductive freedom, and protections for the right to vote.
The LOW Democratic Club will devote its September 10 meeting to a discussion of the three proposed amendments. The meeting will take place at 1:30 p.m. in Classroom 1 of the LOW Community Center. All are welcome to attend.
Yard signs urging “yes” votes on the three measures will be available for distribution at the meeting.
The actual wording of the ballot measures will be presented as well as explanations of why the amendments are necessary.
Brief synopses of the background of the three amendments follows:
Marriage Equality: In 1967, in Loving v. Virginia, the U.S. Supreme Court overturned laws banning interracial marriage and struck down Virginia’s Racial Integrity Act of 1924.
In 1996 the U.S. Congress passed the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA), defining marriage as a union of one man and one woman, banning federal recognition of same sex marriages, and allowing states to refuse recognition of same sex marriages granted in other states.
In 2006 Virginia voters passed a Constitutional Amendment that defined marriage as “only a union between one man and one woman”.
In 2015 the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that bans on same sex marriage are unconstitutional. This decision nullified the language in the Constitution of Virginia.
If the Supreme Court were to overturn its 2015 decision, the language in the Constitution of Virginia would then be in effect again. Therefore, the proposed amendment of 2026 would remove the 2006 same sex marriage ban language and officially recognize that any two adults “may marry regardless of sex, gender, or race.”
Reproductive Freedom: The proposed amendment of 2026 would add a new section to the Constitution of Virginia guaranteeing an individual’s reproductive freedom as a fundamental right. The new language upholds a person’s ability to make and carry out decisions related to their own prenatal care, childbirth, postpartum care, contraception, abortion care, miscarriage management, and fertility care. It protects healthcare workers and other individuals who assist in such care. It allows for restrictions on abortion in the third trimester, but not when a physician determines it is needed to protect the life or physical or mental health of the patient or that the fetus is not viable.
Protecting the Right to Vote: The Constitution of Virginia enacted in 1902 imposed a lifetime ban on voting for anyone convicted of a felony. Restoration of the right to vote could only be obtained from the governor.
In recent years, Governors Bob McDonnell, Terry McAuliffe, and Ralph Northam all created forms of automatic restoration to applicants, but Governor Glenn Youngkin ended automatic restoration and returned to a process of evaluating individual applicants.
The proposed amendment of 2026 adds language making it clear that voting is a fundamental right for all who meet the basic citizenship, age, and residency requirements; automatically restores the right to vote to convicted felons upon completion of their incarceration; and updates language currently used to disenfranchise anyone adjudicated to be mentally incompetent with language referring instead to a lack of capacity to understand the act of voting (people requiring assistance in managing their financial affairs can frequently still understand voting).
Early in-person voting begins September 18 at the office of the Orange County registrar, 130 N. Madison Road, Orange, VA. Election Day is Tuesday, November 3.
LOW turns out to welcome Rep. Vindman
More than 100 Lake of the Woods voters turned out July 18 to welcome U.S. Rep. Eugene Vindman and to support his re-election as congressman from Virginia’s 7th District. The Congressman described his accomplishments during his first term and his plans for the future and answered questions on a variety of topics. The General Election is scheduled for Nov. 3.
Your 2027 club dues
