--- title: Roanoke TV Shooting: Chris Hurst Running for Office description: Chris Hurst, the boyfriend of Roanoke, Va. reporter Alison Hurst who was murdered during a live broadcast, is running for political office canonical: https://time.com/4671401/chris-hurst-boyfriend-roanoke-reporter-alison-parker-murder/ author: Aric Jenkins article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2017-02-15T01:16:49.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-02-23T03:20:01.592Z article:section: Politics og:title: Boyfriend of Reporter Fatally Shot on Live TV Quits Job to Run for Office og:description: Chris Hurst will campaign for a seat in the Virginia House of Delegates og:url: https://time.com/4671401/chris-hurst-boyfriend-roanoke-reporter-alison-parker-murder/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltef585ce73af2815f/6988ba63656a3fe8acbceca4/chris-hurst-roanoke.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 2560 og:image:height: 1440 og:image:alt: Senate Luncheons og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Boyfriend of Reporter Fatally Shot on Live TV Quits Job to Run for Office twitter:description: Chris Hurst will campaign for a seat in the Virginia House of Delegates twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltef585ce73af2815f/6988ba63656a3fe8acbceca4/chris-hurst-roanoke.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Boyfriend of Reporter Fatally Shot on Live TV Quits Job to Run for Office in Her Honor by [Aric Jenkins](https://time.com/author/aric-jenkins/) ## Aric Jenkins Feb 15, 2017 1:16 AM UTC  Chris Hurst, whose girlfriend Alison Parker, a reporter for WDBJ-TV, was killed on air in a shooting in Roanoke on Aug. 27, 2015, speaks during a rally at the Capitol in Washington on Sept. 10, 2015. Chris Hurst, whose girlfriend Alison Parker, a reporter for WDBJ-TV, was killed on air in a shooting in Roanoke on Aug. 27, 2015, speaks during a rally at the Capitol in Washington on Sept. 10, 2015.Tom Williams—CQ-Roll Call,Inc./Getty Images by [Aric Jenkins](https://time.com/author/aric-jenkins/) ## Aric Jenkins Feb 15, 2017 1:16 AM UTC Chris Hurst, the coworker and boyfriend of the Roanoke, Va., reporter who was [fatally shot during a live news broadcast](http://time.com/4011147/wdbj7-virginia-shooting/), has quit his anchor job to run for political office. Hurst will campaign for a seat in the Virginia House of Delegates, a decision he said was made to “honor” his slain girlfriend, [Alison Parker](http://time.com/4011538/alison-parker-adam-ward-virginia-shooting-victims/). Her cameraman, Adam Ward, was also killed by the gunman. “I’m leaving my career at the station where she worked to fight for the causes she and I value the most,” Hurst [wrote in an op-ed for the Daily Beast](http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2017/02/14/roanoke-victim-s-boyfriend-chris-hurst-i-m-running-for-office-to-honor-her.html). The ex-anchor will run in the Democratic primary for the 12th District seat, which is currently occupied by Republican Joseph Yost, according to [NBC News](http://www.nbcnews.com/storyline/virginia-tv-shooting/virginia-reporter-whose-co-workers-were-fatally-shot-live-tv-n720721). Hurst, 30, says its the best way to find purpose following the death of Parker, who he had moved in with shortly before her murder in August 2015. “I started to become a shell of the person that I was because I had to numb myself in order to anchor the news, and I didn’t feel that was who I wanted to be,” Hurst told NBC News. “I was trying to think of what can I do, where I can stay in this area where the people have given me so much help and strength when I needed it — and public service is a real natural progression.” Hurst admitted the career pivot will be a challenge, as he is used to remaining objective as a journalist. But he is prepared to “be honest and investigate the information and gather facts and come to an objective conclusion” as a politician. He said one of his main priorities will be universal background checks for guns, if elected. “I think we can have healthy conversations, and the one thing I am interested in is saving lives,” he told NBC, adding that he does not intend to take away firearms from properly registered citizens. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4671401/chris-hurst-boyfriend-roanoke-reporter-alison-parker-murder/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4671401/chris-hurst-boyfriend-roanoke-reporter-alison-parker-murder/"},"headline":"Boyfriend of Reporter Fatally Shot on Live TV Quits Job to Run for Office in Her Honor","datePublished":"2017-02-15T01:16:49.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-23T03:20:01.592Z","description":"\"I’m leaving my career at the station where she worked to fight for the causes she and I value the most\"","url":"https://time.com/4671401/chris-hurst-boyfriend-roanoke-reporter-alison-parker-murder/","keywords":["politics","onetime"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltef585ce73af2815f/6988ba63656a3fe8acbceca4/chris-hurst-roanoke.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Aric Jenkins","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/aric-jenkins/"}],"articleSection":"Politics","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltef585ce73af2815f/6988ba63656a3fe8acbceca4/chris-hurst-roanoke.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Senate Luncheons","caption":"UNITED STATES - SEPTEMBER 10: Chris Hurst, whose girlfriend Alison Parker, a reporter for WDBJ-TV reporter, was killed on air last month, greets Gov. 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