Democrat Chris Hurst, right, defeated Republican incumbent Joseph Yost to win House District 12 on Tuesday, Nov. 7, 2017, in Blacksburg, Va. Hurst celebrates with a packed room of supporters at The Hyatt Place in Blacksburg. (Heather Rousseau/The Roanoke Times via AP)
Newly elected state Rep. Chris Hurst said Wednesday that the wave of Democratic members elected to the House of Delegates allows more opportunities for gun laws in Virginia.
Mr. Hurst is a former local news anchor whose fiancee, Alison Parker, was killed on live television along with her photographer Adam Ward in 2015. Both were shot during their broadcast.
“I think it is a new day in Virginia, where we not only have a Democratic governor, lieutenant governor and attorney general, now for the next four years, again, but we have a possibility of being able to have a majority in the House of Delegates,” Mr. Hurst, Virginia Democrat, said on CNN. “So every single idea that could possibly address and reduce the number of people who are dying from homicide, suicide and accidental firearm deaths, I think now, is finally on the table.”
Mr. Hurst said he wanted to stay in rural Virginia after Ms. Parker’s death, but couldn’t continue working at the station, so he decided to run for the delegate seat in the 12th district.
“For so many people who have been impacted by gun violence across the commonwealth, even here in my district, they are, I think, just humbled, grateful and looking forward to the opportunity of passing legislation that will tangibly reduce deaths here in Virginia from firearms,” Mr. Hurst said.