Democrats have an unprecedented opportunity to build power in Virginia this fall and strike a blow against the GOP. A record number of candidates are challenging Republican legislators all across the state, and not just in areas that have been trending Democratic, like the Washington, D.C. suburbs in Northern Virginia. Thanks to this intense outpouring of energy, Democrats have expanded the playing field to parts of the state the party hasn’t typically competed in.
One such unexpected pickup opportunity this November is in Southwest Virginia, in a district that includes the town of Blacksburg and surrounding rural areas. As it happens, the race for this seat also features one of Virginia’s best-known Democratic challengers this cycle, although his fame has nothing to do with politics.
Christ Hurst became well known to the residents of Southwest Virginia through his career as an award-winning TV news anchor with a Roanoke-based news station. It was there that he met and fell in love with fellow newscaster Alison Parker, who was gunned down along with a coworker during a live broadcast two years ago by a disgruntled former station employee.
Hurst and Parker had planned to marry, and the pain of continuing to live and work in a place that had given him so much—then had suddenly taken all of it from him—was understandably too great. Hurst resigned from the station and went to live in nearby Blacksburg. He had grown to deeply love the community that had supported him in the aftermath of the tragedy, and he decided he wanted to give back by running for office and representing their needs and interests in Virginia’s capitol.
Despite the fact that Hurst is running in a seat that’s generally more conservative than many Democratic targets this fall, he’s running on an openly progressive platform, and Daily Kos is pleased to endorse him for Virginia’s 12th State House District. He supports gun safety measures like universal background checks and closing the gun show loophole, and while his personal story initially led to speculation that guns might be a centerpiece of his campaign, gun safety is just one of many things Hurst is campaigning on, and he’s a gun owner himself.
Chris Hurst already has his opponent running scared, but he needs your help to defeat this entrenched Republican—contribute $3 to Hurst’s campaign to help elect him this fall.
Hurst’s main focus is on bringing opportunity to residents of this rural, economically challenged district. He’s campaigning on an ambitious agenda that he calls “the new Virginia way” and includes items like ensuring rural schools get their fair share of state funding and expanding broadband internet access in the region. He also supports expanding Medicaid and opposes construction of a natural gas pipeline that would cross the district.
Hurst is running to unseat three-term GOP state Rep. Joseph Yost, who is attempting to sell himself as a more moderate lawmaker than his actual record indicates: He’s voted to defund Planned Parenthood and also voted for the infamous transvaginal ultrasound bill in 2013, plus he’s supported bills that allow guns on school grounds and opposed efforts to expand Medicaid. And though the 12th District has not elected a Democrat to the state House in a decade, Hillary Clinton did narrowly carry it, 48-45.
Yost is clearly spooked by Hurst’s candidacy: Of all 63 sitting GOP House members seeking re-election, he’s the first incumbent to send out campaign mailers to voters in his district.