This election will be held on November 4, 2025. Incumbent Republican Delegate Chris Obenshain faces a challenge from Democrat Lily Franklin in HD-41.

Virginia’s House District 41 spans parts of Montgomery County and Roanoke County in Virginia’s southwestern region. In the 2024 election it leaned Republican by narrow single-digit margins.

Democrat Lily Franklin is a Virginia native. She graduated from Northside High School and holds a degree in political science from Longwood University. Her career in politics began with her work in Delegate Sam Rasoul’s legislative office. Franklin was later promoted to chief of staff. 

Lily Franklin has expressed support for HJ 1, which would enshrine reproductive rights in the Virginia Constitution.

Lily Franklin is a former math teacher in Appalachia. She pledges to fight to ensure every child gets a world-class education and supports pay raises for teachers. 

Franklin will fight for affordable homeownership by stopping hedge funds from driving up prices and “pushing for innovative local and statewide solutions”.

She supports investing in infrastructure, programs for small businesses, and connecting the New River and Roanoke Valleys. She pledges to fight for policies that create good-paying jobs so families can build a future at home.

Franklin pledges to fight to protect reproductive rights, expand access to OB-GYNs and birth control, and ensure everyone can get the care they need, when they need it. She believes everyone deserves safe, clean drinking water. She worked to pass critical legislation that set strong limits on dangerous “forever chemicals” (PFAS) in drinking water.

As Chief of Staff to a member of the House of Delegates, she helped pass:
- Microgrants for farmers
- Housing protections for domestic violence survivors
- A first-of-its-kind program that put constituents in charge of the bill-writing process

The Opposition

Incumbent Republican Delegate Chris Obenshain was first elected to the House of Delegates in 2023. He is a U.S. Army Reservist and was commissioned as an Officer in the U.S. Army JAG Corps; he currently serves as a Lieutenant Colonel. Delegate Obenshain has worked in several levels of government, from the local level to Capitol Hill. He lives in Blacksburg with his wife and their three sons. Key legislation:
- Voted against a bill to enshrine abortion rights in the Virginia Constitution
- Voted against a Constitutional amendment to restore voting rights to returning citizens
- Voted to enshrine equal marriage rights in the Virginia Constitution
- Voted against raising teacher pay to the national average
- Voted to increase protections and support for cyberbullying
- Voted against authorizing public colleges and universities to prohibit guns on school property
- Voted against a bill to increase the minimum wage to $15 per hour by 2027
- Voted against a bill to establish paid family and medical leave
- Voted against a bill to repeal prohibitions on collective bargaining for public employees
- Voted to establish regulatory bodies to establish a Virginia cannabis industry
- Voted against prohibiting landlords from requiring tenants to pay extra fees
- Voted against establishing a Prescription Drug Affordability Board
- Voted against establishing the right to access and use FDA-approved birth control
- Voted against requiring insurance providers to cover contraceptives
- Voted against a bill to prohibit the manufacture, sale, or possession of assault-style weapons 
- Voted against establishing regulations for “high-risk” AI
- Voted against authorizing Ranked Choice Voting for certain local elections
- Voted against a bill that would require secure storage of firearms in households where children live

Recommendation

Due to her support for abortion access and quality, affordable public education, Lily Franklin is the progressive candidate in this race.