Virginia 12th
S1 E1
Virginia 12th, A NowThis Film
Published on 10/30/2018 at 6:04 PM
Virginia 12th is a 64 minute documentary, which follows the emotional and inspirational story of a Chris Hurst, a millennial journalist rocked by gun violence, who pivoted his career towards elected office by running and defeating an NRA-backed incumbent State House representative.
Local Virginia TV news anchor, Chris Hurst, experienced the unthinkable when his girlfriend and fellow journalist, Alison Parker, was murdered live on-air in 2015 during a local news report. Following the traumatic personal loss that made national headlines, Hurst quit journalism to run for political office. In the first wave of elections following a polarizing U.S. presidential race, Hurst worked to rally support from a divided community, and more importantly, engage many young, first time voters between the two college campuses within the district, Virginia Tech and Radford. It was the support and enthusiasm Chris garnered from this new generation of voters that ultimately propelled him to victory to serve as delegate for Virginia's 12th House District.
NowThis' Virginia 12th, directed by Tim Johnson and produced by David Check of Checkpoint Productions, follows Hurst on the entire road of his candidacy and the young people who rallied around him in the months leading up to Election Day 2017. It's a story about the journey to his incredible victory and the story about how a 31-year-old journalist unseated an NRA-backed career politician in one the greatest political upsets in recent history.