Hurst began his career as a journalist for
WDBJ in
Roanoke, Virginia. 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. In February 2017, he left his job and lived on his savings to run for the
Virginia House of Delegates. In the race, Hurst was endorsed by
Everytown for Gun Safety (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. Hurst also ran on
LGBT rights, 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. 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 Councilman
Jason Ballard, who carried 55.2% of the vote. ==Political positions==