One of Virginia’s tightest political races in 2023 was in House District 41, which includes most of Blacksburg. Republican Chris Obenshain won by 183 votes. His opponent, Lily Franklin, is challenging him again this November, and money has been pouring in from both sides.
Inside a small church in Christiansburg, at an event hosted by the NAACP and the League of Women Voters, Democratic candidate Lily Franklin stood in front of a small audience.
“I have people supporting me, a wide coalition, and it surprises me still,” Franklin told the crowd. “But, you know, when someone looks at you, and they’re in their mid-sixties, and they said, ‘I voted Republican every election since I was 18, but I’ll be voting for you this year.’”
This district includes rural and suburban areas in Montgomery and Roanoke Counties, and tends to swing Republican. It also includes Blacksburg, where Virginia Tech is located.
Franklin has outraised her opponent Chris Obenshain, according to the Virginia Public Access Project. Her top donors include the Democratic Party of Virginia, several unions, and environmental groups.
“But people are also looking at this district across the nation as well,” Franklin said. “Because we have both a college town and a rural community, and so those are two places where we lost a lot of support in 2024. And they want to see what happens in this now.”
She’s focusing her messaging around lowering electric bills and housing prices. She said she wants to see tax credits for people who pay more than 30 percent of their income on housing, and fewer fees for renters.
Her opponent, Delegate Chris Obenshain, is also putting economic issues front and center. His top donors include the Republican Party of Virginia, and other state lawmakers.
He said the key to getting more affordable housing is to reduce regulations, so developers can build more homes quicker. “You know, housing’s one of those areas where regulations make up a large portion of the cost of building new homes,” Obenshain said.
Obenshain is a former prosecutor and an Army veteran. He has three children, and said one important part of economic development is helping families afford childcare.
This year, he introduced a bill to give tax credits for employers who provide child care for their employees. The bill didn’t make it out of committee, but Obenshain says, if he wins, he plans to try again.
Childcare and education are top issues for Franklin too. Before she worked for Democratic Delegate Sam Rasoul, she was a public-school teacher and still substitute teaches. She says pre-school teachers should earn higher wages, and wants to increase options for families to afford childcare.
When it comes to electric bills, Franklin talks about shifting to more renewable energy, and making data centers pay more for electricity than residents. Obenshain, who received money from both Dominion Energy and Amazon, said he supports reducing costs for power companies.
“We’ve had Appalachian Power come out and ask to reduce their fuel costs on bills, which is something we pushed for in the last legislative session,” Obenshain said. “So hopefully if that goes through, that will reduce people’s bills that they pay every month on electricity.”
So far, both candidates have raised a total of $1.3 million, one of the costliest elections this year for the Virginia House of Delegates.
