Del. Chris Obenshain, R-Montgomery (left), faces a rematch with Democrat Lily Franklin in the 41st House of Delegates District. (Photos courtesy of campaigns)
Two years after a nail-biting finish, Democrat Lily Franklin and Del. Chris Obenshain, the Republican incumbent, are locked in a rematch in Virginia’s House of Delegates District 41 — a contest that could again turn on handfuls of ballots in a district that blends the university-anchored towns of Blacksburg and Christiansburg with more rural and suburban precincts of Roanoke and Montgomery counties. In 2023, Obenshain edged Franklin by just 183 votes.
As the campaign intensifies, both candidates cast themselves as uniquely suited to serve a district in flux — Franklin promising generational change and connection to working-class struggles, Obenshain touting continuity, legislative experience and a record of concrete wins.
House District 41 is one of the state’s more demographically dynamic districts. It has a comparatively low median age, a substantial proportion of renter-occupied housing, and a mix of precincts that swing between college-town and exurban voters. The district also leans slightly toward competitive balance in recent elections — a swing seat more often than not — making it a bellwether for broader trends in Southwest Virginia politics.
According to data from the Virginia Public Access Project, money underscores the high stakes of this year’s election cycle. Obenshain had raised $490,440 through Aug. 31 and booked $782,602 in political ads set to run through the week of Nov. 3.
Franklin had raised $893,914 and booked $573,599 in ads for the same period. VPAP also ranks Franklin among the top five Democratic House fundraisers as of the Aug. 31 reporting period.
Lily Franklin
A former teacher and legislative aide who grew up in a five-generation Southwest Virginia family, Franklin, 31, pitches herself as the candidate most closely tied to the district’s daily realities.
“I’ve had lived experiences that are very similar to folks in this district. … I worked multiple jobs to make ends meet,” she said in a recent phone interview, adding that having lived paycheck to paycheck shapes how she approaches policy. Her campaign biography highlights work for Del. Sam Rasoul, D-Roanoke, and a political science degree from Longwood University.
After losing by fewer than 200 votes in 2023, Franklin said her operation this cycle started earlier and is broader.
“We’ve been talking to folks on the ground and knocking on doors since April. We have been connecting with students on campus all year round,” she said. What’s different, in her view, is an electorate “ready for new leadership and a change,” and a campaign that offers a future “we’re fighting for, not just voting against another candidate.”
Franklin’s read on the district is pointedly non-ideological. “People want their elected officials to deliver on everyday solutions, they just want their lives to be less chaotic. … ‘I just need my electric bill to be 20% less.’”
That message is calibrated for a district she says is among the youngest in the state — with a median age of 29 — but also includes rural and suburban neighborhoods.
“I connect deeply on the community values that unite us,” she said, adding that she’s felt the region’s housing crunch personally after being priced out of Blacksburg into Christiansburg.
On housing, Franklin backs a mix of renter relief and ownership incentives — a state tax credit for renters spending more than 30% of income on housing, stronger legal protections against unjust evictions, and public-private partnerships to help first-time buyers.
She also favors curbing large-scale investor purchases.
“We should be banning hedge funds from buying out our homes and really trying to incentivize people who live here locally to take a little bit more ownership,” Franklin said. That position tracks with a growing debate in Richmond over investor activity in tight markets such as Blacksburg, where Virginia Tech enrollment has strained supply.
Transportation is another pillar of the Democrat’s campaign.
Franklin said much of the Interstate 81 work through the New River and Roanoke valleys is underway and should be “wrapped up” as planned. She supports the Christiansburg Amtrak station as an economic catalyst and doesn’t approve of adding tolls, arguing Virginia should prioritize existing surplus dollars before new fees.
Franklin’s economic blueprint leans on translating Virginia Tech’s research strength into local jobs: targeted incentives for firms that spin out of campus, stronger workforce training and a caution that budget cuts can reverberate through already fragile regional employers.
On data centers, she favors local control over siting, with regional coordination on shared resources like the electric grid — a question Montgomery County leaders have pressed in recent months.
On public education, Franklin argues Virginia’s funding formula is outdated and should be refocused on student needs. She supports raising teacher pay and incentives for hard-to-staff divisions and says the state’s surplus shows Virginia has a “priorities” problem, not a revenue problem.
Franklin draws a sharp contrast on reproductive rights, pledging to vote for the constitutional amendment to protect reproductive freedom, including access to contraception and IVF. She links the policy to access challenges on the ground, noting a “year-long wait list to see an OBGYN” in Montgomery County. The proposed amendment is expected to go before voters after clearing two successive General Assembly sessions.
On guns, Franklin frames her position as “Second Amendment, with safeguards,” backing safe-storage standards, background checks and restrictions for domestic-violence offenders — measures that have polled well in a range of Virginia communities.
Franklin also made campaign-finance reform part of her closing argument, promising an opening-day bill to ban donations from public service corporations and to create a faster, state-backed disaster-relief/resilience fund after storms — citing long waits for federal help after Hurricane Helene.
Her bottom line: With Democrats favored to gain ground this year, HD-41 should send a member “within the majority party” who knows “how to pass legislation and get money back to the district.”
Chris Obenshain
Obenshain, 47, counters with a record-and-relationships pitch. A Montgomery County prosecutor and Army Reserve officer who grew up in Roanoke County, he won the open seat in 2023 and says constituent service and concrete wins define his first term. His campaign biography cites stints in local, state and federal roles and deep family ties in the region.
In a phone interview with The Mercury, the Republican pointed first to passenger rail as one of his most significant accomplishments during his first term.
“Getting passenger rail back to the New River Valley for the first time in decades” — with trains slated to roll into Christiansburg “very soon” — was a top promise, he said, crediting coordination across “local, state, (and) federal” partners.
Obenshain called his locality a “very balanced … competitive district” and said that’s why “an experienced and effective voice” matters. Day to day, he said, the job is listening and solving problems — from unemployment benefits to paving requests — and coming prepared when session moves fast.
On housing, Obenshain said the state’s role is to speed supply by reducing “excess mandates and regulations that drive up the cost of housing,” and to help localities move projects “through the pipeline” faster because “time is money.”
He also supports “guardrails” on large outside investors who buy and hold local homes, arguing the state should ensure first responders and new graduates can afford to live where they work.
I-81 remains his marquee infrastructure focus. Obenshain emphasized that he helped secure an extra $70 million in the budget to accelerate projects and wants to prioritize widening the backup-plagued stretch between Christiansburg and Salem, with expanded passenger rail also relieving pressure. He favors continuing to steer surplus dollars into the corridor rather than relying on tolls or new revenue until current plans are funded.
Obenshain leans heavily into workforce development to tie Virginia Tech innovation to jobs — expanding apprenticeships and career and technical education, with earlier exposure in K-12.
He praised a new Career and Technical Education Center in Roanoke and growing offerings in Montgomery County, adding that community colleges are vital “to meet the jobs of the future.”
Like Franklin, he said data center siting should be a local decision, with regional collaboration on water and electricity but “no state veto from another part of Virginia.” On education policy, he backs “parents’ rights” and education savings accounts to broaden school choice, while emphasizing that “it’s always a team effort” with teachers.
On abortion, he opposes the constitutional amendment, arguing it would “overturn decades of existing law, require taxpayers to fund even elective abortions up to 40 weeks” and undo parental-consent rules — claims Democrats dispute.
But he also renewed his support of exceptions for rape, incest and the life of the mother and said voters should scrutinize what the amendment would actually do.
On gun policy, Obenshain said enforcement should target violent offenders and repeat gun crimes, not “law-abiding gun owners,” noting Democrats didn’t docket his bill to increase penalties for using a firearm in a violent felony.
Environmental stewardship, he said, is about enforcing existing laws to protect places like the New River, McAfee Knob and the Appalachian Trail.
Obenshain touted two bipartisan proposals as examples for his willingness to work with lawmakers from across the aisle: He backed a regulated retail cannabis market, where he said public-safety concerns unite both parties, and anti-Semitic threat legislation he introduced that a Democrat carried and the governor signed.
His closing argument centers on continuity. “I’ve been an effective voice for Southwest Virginia, reducing costs on energy, healthcare and housing, fighting costly mandates, and investing in public education and public safety. … I hope people see the progress that’s being made and my passion for continuing that work.”
Virginia House District 41 includes parts of Montgomery County — home to Blacksburg and Christiansburg — and western Roanoke County, blending a youthful university hub with more suburban and rural communities. (Map courtesy of the Virginia Public Access Project)