Virginia Dems Could Lose Control Of State Senate Because Member May Have Lied About Residence

“I plan to stop them from certifying the election. She’s disqualified, that means I ran unopposed as a matter of law,” Republican opponent says.

Virginia Democrats last week took control of the state House and retained control of the state Senate by one seat — but a winning senator may have lied about residing in the district, a situation that could lead to the chamber falling into Republican hands.

Democrats are slated to control the state Senate 21-19, but if Ghazala Hashmi is ineligible to hold office because she lied on her campaign paperwork, then a situation could arise where she is replaced by a Republican, and Republican Lt. Gov. Winsome Sears would cast tie-breaking votes.

Virginia Senate candidates are required to live in the district they are running for, and Hashmi filed candidacy paperwork saying she lived in an apartment on Boulder Lake Drive in North Chesterfield in Senate District 15.

But four neighbors filed a complaint saying she actually lives outside the district on Bosham Lane in Midlothian, and they provided a spreadsheet saying they had driven by the house 62 times during the month of October to document her residency. The notes include her car being there late at night and early in the morning, and her leaving the house shortly after 8 a.m. It also includes photographic evidence.

Putting Hashmi in a particular bind, if she did live in the Chesterfield apartment, then she may have committed a felony by concealing her ownership of the Midlothian home on sworn election forms.

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