FLUVANNA — An actor who founded a nonprofit organization dedicated to increasing voter turnout will attempt to put those skills to use in a bid for congress.

Lawrence Gaughan will face Republican incumbent Robert Hurt on November 4.

The 47-year old native of Charlottesville bested retired U.S. Army Lt. Col. Ben Hudson during the Fifth District Democratic Party’s weekend convention at Fluvanna County High School.

On his campaign website, Gaughan states he is running for congress “because I believe the people of my home district need a true representative and a voice in Washington.

“All across the commonwealth, and all over the country, Democrats, Independents and Republicans, alike, feel like they are not being properly represented in Washington. Many Virginians have lost faith in the ability of our federal government to fix long-term problems such as the debt or our broken immigration system.”

Citing his central Virginia roots, Gaughan describes himself as “a patriotic American who loves my country and the people of my home district. I will put our community first. As a professional actor, director and producer, I am a long-time union member. I also worked various construction jobs in order to get through school. I understand the concerns of the hardworking people of the Fifth District, many of whom feel that they are slipping through the cracks.”

Gaughan has worked as a fundraiser and grassroots organizer for the Democratic Party.

“I am also the founder of GOV360, a non-partisan 501(c)(3) organization dedicated to reaching out to non-voters, especially those who seem to have given up on the system,” he observes on his website.

“I believe I could reach many of the non-voters in the Fifth District and bring them into a broad coalition of Independents, Republicans and Democrats,” he states. “We all know that Washington is broken. We cannot expect the career politicians to fix the problems that they helped to create.”

Blaming low turnout for helping Hurt defeat Democratic incumbent Congressman Tom Perriello in 2010, Gaughan declares, “Hurt is wrong for Virginia. He has consistently voted to limit the rights and freedoms of women, he has worked against the diverse interests of our citizens, and he has supported the limited special interests that helped him get elected to congress.”

Stretching from the North Carolina border to Fauquier, the Fifth District’s 10,181 square miles makes it larger than New Jersey and Vermont.

Rep. Hurt was reelected two years ago by a 12 percent margin.