A former Virginia news anchor whose journalist girlfriend was shot and killed on live TV defeated the Republican incumbent to win a seat in the Virginia House of Delegates Tuesday.
Chris Hurst said he ran for office in honor of his girlfriend, Alison Parker, who was fatally shot along with her cameraman, Adam Ward, by a former co-worker while broadcasting live for WDBJ in Roanoke in 2015.
Hurst ran on stricter gun control measures, as well as on expanding Medicaid and increasing school funding.
He announced his decision to leave broadcast journalism to run for office in an op-ed for the Daily Beast in February.
“In 2015, my girlfriend Alison Parker was executed on live TV,” Hurst wrote. “Now, I’m leaving my career at the station where she worked to fight for the causes she and I value the most.”
Hurst defeated three-term incumbent Joseph Yost for the 12th District House of Delegates seat, winning 54 percent of the vote to Yost’s 46 percent.
Pandemonium in Blacksburg as Chris Hurst accepts victory. Huge Dem win pic.twitter.com/Hk2580ApXJ
— Michael Stewart (@RepMikeStewart) November 8, 2017
“We are going to stand up to bigotry and intolerance, we are going to speak out against injustice, and we are going to fight for the most vulnerable among us,” Hurst said in his victory speech.
Parker’s parents were present for Hurst’s win.
Allison Parker’s parents have walked back into the room. There are a lot of hugs going around.
— Robby Korth (@RobbyKorth) November 8, 2017
Hurst published a series of tweets immediately following the on-air shooting in 2015, declaring his love for Parker and sharing that they had just moved in together.
“We didn’t share this publicly, but @AParkerWDBJ7 and I were very much in love. We just moved in together. I am numb,” he tweeted. “She was the most radiant woman I ever met. And for some reason, she loved me back. She loved her parents, her family, and her brother.”
We didn’t share this publicly, but @AParkerWDBJ7 and I were very much in love. We just moved in together. I am numb. pic.twitter.com/tUrHVwAXcN
— Chris Hurst (@ChrisHurstVA) August 26, 2015
She was the most radiant woman I ever met. And for some reason she loved me back. She loved her family, her parents and her brother.
— Chris Hurst (@ChrisHurstVA) August 26, 2015
I am comforted by everyone at @WDBJ7. We are a family. She worked with Adam every day. They were a team. I am heartbroken for his fiancee.
— Chris Hurst (@ChrisHurstVA) August 26, 2015
