After Girlfriend Slain On Air, Ex-TV Anchor Wins VA Delegate Race

BLACKSBURG, VA — A former Virginia television news anchor whose girlfriend was shot and killed during a live broadcast was elected to the Virginia House of Delegates Tuesday, defeating a Republican incumbent for the seat.

Democrat Chris Hurst beat Joseph Yost to capture the Blacksburg-area seat in Virginia’s 12th District on Tuesday. He won by about a 10-point margin, capturing 54 percent of the vote, while 45 percent of the electorate cast their ballots for Yost.

Hurst was living with television reporter Alison Parker when she and her cameraman from WDBJ-TV were shot and killed on air in 2015. Vester Flanagan, a disgruntled former employee of the station, opened fire on Parker and cameraman Adam Ward while they were interviewing Vicki Gardner, head of a local chamber of commerce.

After the shooting, Hurst quit his job at the station and moved to Blacksburg to run for the seat.

His campaign was backed by gun-control groups, but it was not his primary focus during the election. He instead emphasized issues like healthcare, education and the environment.

“We’ve waited so long and worked so hard to make sure that the New River Valley finally has a voice in Richmond that will be loud, that will be strong, that will be fearless and a voice that will represent the entire district and not just those that voted for a delegate but for everybody who lives here,” Hurst said at his victory rally Tuesday night in Blacksburg, the Roanoke Times reported.

Elsewhere in Virginia, Democrat Danica Roem beat a 13-time incumbent to become the state’s first openly transgender elected official, and one of only a handful in the country.

The Democratic candidate for governor, Ralph Northam, also defeated Republican Ed Gillespie in one of the first statewide elections since Republican President Donald Trump was elected in November, 2016.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

Photo credit: Heather Rousseau/The Roanoke Times via AP