Christopher Laird Hurst (born July 9, 1987) is an American journalist, former

news anchor A news presenter – also known as a newsreader, newscaster (short for "news broadcaster"), anchorman or anchorwoman, news anchor or simply an anchor – is a person who presents news during a news program on TV, radio or the Internet. ...

and former member of the

Virginia House of Delegates The Virginia House of Delegates is one of the two houses of the Virginia General Assembly, the other being the Senate of Virginia. It has 100 members elected for terms of two years; unlike most states, these elections take place during odd-numbe ...

for the state's 12th district. Hurst entered politics following the high-profile 2015 on-air murders of his fiancee, Alison Parker, and her co-worker, Adam Ward. He made

gun control Gun control, or firearms regulation, is the set of laws or policies that regulate the manufacture, sale, transfer, possession, modification, or use of firearms and ammunition by civilians. Most countries allow civilians to own firearms, bu ...

one of his top legislative priorities. In 2021, he was defeated for reelection by Jason Ballard. In 2024, Hurst returned to TV news as a reporter for WTSP-TV in St. Petersburg, Florida. Writing about himself on his WTSP bio page, he mentioned that he returned to the air at

WDBJ-TV WDBJ (channel 7) is a television station licensed to Roanoke, Virginia, United States, serving as the CBS affiliate for the Roanoke–Lynchburg, Virginia, Lynchburg media market, market. It is owned by Gray Media alongside Danville, Virginia, Da ...

soon after the shooting-deaths of his then-girlfriend Alison Parker and photographer Adam Ward, helping to guide the community through its collective grief and gaining recognition for his "admirable openness in the aftermath, including being named Roanoker of the Year by Roanoker Magazine."

Personal life and education

Hurst was born in

Philadelphia Philadelphia ( ), colloquially referred to as Philly, is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania, most populous city in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania and the List of United States cities by population, sixth-most populous city in the Unit ...

Pennsylvania Pennsylvania, officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a U.S. state, state spanning the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern United States, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes region, Great Lakes regions o ...

. He attended

Emerson College Emerson College is a private college in Boston, Massachusetts, United States. It also maintains campuses in Los Angeles and Well, Limburg, Netherlands (Kasteel Well). Founded in 1880 by Charles Wesley Emerson as a "school of Public Speaking, o ...

from 2006 to 2009, earning a Bachelor of Arts degree in Broadcast Journalism.

Career

Hurst began his career as a journalist for

WDBJ WDBJ (channel 7) is a television station licensed to Roanoke, Virginia, United States, serving as the CBS affiliate for the Roanoke–Lynchburg, Virginia, Lynchburg media market, market. It is owned by Gray Media alongside Danville, Virginia, Da ...

Roanoke, Virginia Roanoke ( ) is an Independent city (United States), independent city in Virginia, United States. It lies in Southwest Virginia, along the Roanoke River, in the Blue Ridge Mountains, Blue Ridge range of the greater Appalachian Mountains. Roanok ...

. He became an anchor for WDBJ at 22, which the station claimed made him the youngest anchor in the country. Hurst entered politics in the aftermath of the 2015 on-air murder of his fiancee, Alison Parker.Boyfriend of reporter killed on live TV aims to unseat NRA-endorsed lawmaker
by Lois Beckett, at ''

the Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in Manchester in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'' and changed its name in 1959, followed by a move to London. Along with its sister paper, ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardi ...

''; published February 22, 2017. Retrieved November 8, 2017 In February 2017, he left his job and lived on his savings to run for the

. In the race, Hurst was endorsed by

Everytown for Gun Safety Everytown for Gun Safety is an American non-profit organization which advocates for gun control and against gun violence. Everytown was formed in 2013 due to a merger between ''Mayors Against Illegal Guns'' and ''Moms Demand Action for Gun Sens ...

(the only House of Delegates candidate to receive the endorsement), while his opponent, incumbent Delegate Joseph R. Yost, had an "A" rating and endorsement from the

NRA Political Victory Fund The Political Victory Fund (NRA-PVF) is the political action committee (PAC) of the National Rifle Association of America (NRA). Founded in 1976, the Fund endorses political candidates on behalf of the NRA and contributes money to those candidate's ...

. Hurst also ran on

LGBT LGBTQ people are individuals who are lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, or questioning. Many variants of the initialism are used; LGBTQIA+ people incorporates intersex, asexual, aromantic, agender, and other individuals. The gro ...

rights, education, mental health, and

Medicaid Medicaid is a government program in the United States that provides health insurance for adults and children with limited income and resources. The program is partially funded and primarily managed by U.S. state, state governments, which also h ...

expansion. Hurst defeated Yost in the November 2017 election, receiving 54.4% of the vote. During his first legislative term, Hurst had 15 bills signed into law. Hurst served as the Chair of the General Laws - Professions/Occupations and Administrative Process Subcommittee. In 2018, the Virginia League of Conservation Voters presented Hurst with the 2018 Legislative Award. In 2019, Hurst introduced a bill to guarantee free speech protection to student journalists, but it failed a subcommittee vote. He won reelection in 2019, defeating Republican challenger Forrest Hite. On January 26, 2020, Hurst was pulled over for a traffic stop; he was found to have a blood alcohol content ( BAC) level of .085, which is over the legal limit, and was detained and released with a warning in

Christiansburg, Virginia Christiansburg (formerly Hans Meadows) is a town in the southwestern portion of Montgomery County, Virginia, United States. It has served as the seat of government for the county since 1792, when it was formally recognized by the Virginia Gener ...

. On November 1, 2021, Hurst was issued a notification by Radford police for driving without a license on November 1, 2021, after he and a passenger in his car were witnessed tampering with opponent campaign signs. He apologized for the incident, remarking that he "flipped over a couple of yard signs, took them, put them upside down and then put them right side up". On November 2, 2021, Hurst lost his seat in the Virginia House of Delegates to his GOP opponent, Pearisburg

City Council A municipal council is the legislative body of a municipality or local government area. Depending on the location and classification of the municipality it may be known as a city council, town council, town board, community council, borough counc ...

man Jason Ballard, who carried 55.2% of the vote.

Political positions

Environment

Hurst worked to delay the construction of the controversial Mountain Valley Pipeline to ensure the project adheres to safety and environmental regulations and has pushed for property rights protections.

Transportation

He worked with the Northam administration and colleagues across the aisle to pass a transportation package that would fund improvements for

Interstate 81 Interstate 81 (I-81) is a north–south (physically northeast–southwest) Interstate Highway in the eastern part of the United States. Its southern terminus is at Interstate 40, I-40 in Dandridge, Tennessee, Dandridge, Tennessee; its nort ...

ABC laws in dry localities

Hurst helped pass a law that will flip Virginia's remaining “dry” localities to “wet.” He said the law will help businesses that want to sell liquor by the drink avoid the tedious process of getting permission from the legislature to do so, and that it will contribute to economic growth.

Electoral history

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Hurst, Chris 1987 births 21st-century American journalists American television news anchors Emerson College alumni Journalists from Pennsylvania Journalists from Virginia Living people Democratic Party members of the Virginia House of Delegates 21st-century members of the Virginia General Assembly