Chris Obenshain
2024 - Present
2026
1
Chris Obenshain (Republican Party) is a member of the Virginia House of Delegates, representing District 41. He assumed office on January 10, 2024. His current term ends on January 14, 2026.
Obenshain (Republican Party) ran for re-election to the Virginia House of Delegates to represent District 41. He lost in the general election on November 4, 2025.
Biography
Chris Obenshain was born in Virginia and lives in Blacksburg. Obenshain graduated from Cave Spring High School. He served in the U.S. Army Reserve, first as an enlisted soldier, and then as a Major in the U.S. Army Reserve JAG Corps. Obenshain earned a B.A. in political science from Bridgewater College in 2000 and a J.D. from the University of Virginia School of Law in 2006. His professional experience includes working as an attorney.[1][2]
Obenshain served as chairman of the UVA Chapter of the Federalist Society. He has also been involved in numerous the Montgomery County Republican Party, the Radford City Republican Party, the Richmond City Republican Party, and the Bridgewater College Republicans. He also chartered and served as chairman of the Roanoke/NRV Young Republicans.[1]
Sponsored legislation
The following table lists bills this person sponsored as a legislator, according to BillTrack50 and sorted by action history. Bills are sorted by the date of their last action. The following list may not be comprehensive. To see all bills this legislator sponsored, click on the legislator's name in the title of the table.
Committee assignments
2025-2026
Obenshain was assigned to the following committees:
Elections
2025
See also: Virginia House of Delegates elections, 2025
General election
General election for Virginia House of Delegates District 41
Lily Franklin defeated incumbent Chris Obenshain in the general election for Virginia House of Delegates District 41 on November 4, 2025.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ |  | Lily Franklin (D) | 51.2 | 15,912 |
 | Chris Obenshain (R) | 48.8 | 15,146 | |
| Total votes: 31,058 | |||
 = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
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Democratic primary election
The Democratic primary election was canceled. Lily Franklin advanced from the Democratic primary for Virginia House of Delegates District 41.
Republican primary election
The Republican primary election was canceled. Incumbent Chris Obenshain advanced from the Republican primary for Virginia House of Delegates District 41.
Campaign finance
Endorsements
Ballotpedia did not identify endorsements for Obenshain in this election.
2023
See also: Virginia House of Delegates elections, 2023
General election
General election for Virginia House of Delegates District 41
Chris Obenshain defeated Lily Franklin in the general election for Virginia House of Delegates District 41 on November 7, 2023.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ | | Chris Obenshain (R) | 50.3 | 12,529 |
| Lily Franklin (D) | 49.6 | 12,346 | |
| Other/Write-in votes | 0.1 | 29 | ||
| Total votes: 24,904 | |||
| = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
| If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey. | ||||
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team. | ||||
Democratic primary election
The Democratic primary election was canceled. Lily Franklin advanced from the Democratic primary for Virginia House of Delegates District 41.
Withdrawn or disqualified candidates
- James Harder (D)
Republican primary election
Republican primary for Virginia House of Delegates District 41
Chris Obenshain defeated Lowell Bowman in the Republican primary for Virginia House of Delegates District 41 on May 4, 2023.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ | | Chris Obenshain | 58.0 | 294 |
| Lowell Bowman | 42.0 | 213 | ||
| Total votes: 507 | |||
| = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
| If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey. | ||||
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team. | ||||
Endorsements
Obenshain received the following endorsements.
Campaign themes
2025
Ballotpedia survey responses
See also: Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection
Chris Obenshain did not complete Ballotpedia's 2025 Candidate Connection survey.
2023
Chris Obenshain did not complete Ballotpedia's 2023 Candidate Connection survey.
Campaign finance summary
Note: The finance data shown here comes from the disclosures required of candidates and parties. Depending on the election or state, this may represent only a portion of all the funds spent on their behalf. Satellite spending groups may or may not have expended funds related to the candidate or politician on whose page you are reading this disclaimer. Campaign finance data from elections may be incomplete. For elections to federal offices, complete data can be found at the FEC website. Click here for more on federal campaign finance law and here for more on state campaign finance law.
Scorecards
A scorecard evaluates a legislator’s voting record. Its purpose is to inform voters about the legislator’s political positions. Because scorecards have varying purposes and methodologies, each report should be considered on its own merits. For example, an advocacy group’s scorecard may assess a legislator’s voting record on one issue while a state newspaper’s scorecard may evaluate the voting record in its entirety.
Ballotpedia is in the process of developing an encyclopedic list of published scorecards. Some states have a limited number of available scorecards or scorecards produced only by select groups. It is Ballotpedia’s goal to incorporate all available scorecards regardless of ideology or number.
Click here for an overview of legislative scorecards in all 50 states. To contribute to the list of Virginia scorecards, email suggestions to editor@ballotpedia.org.
2024
| To view all the scorecards we found for this legislator in 2024, click [show]. |
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In 2024, the Virginia State Legislature was in session from January 10 to March 9. Special sessions occurred May 13, 2024; June 18 to July 1; and July 18, 2024.
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See also
2025 Elections
External links
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Candidate Virginia House of Delegates District 41 |
Officeholder Virginia House of Delegates District 41 |
Personal |
Footnotes
| Political offices | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by Eileen Filler-Corn (D) |
Virginia House of Delegates District 41 2024-Present |
Succeeded by Lily Franklin (D) |
