Lily Franklin
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Lily Franklin | |
|---|---|
| Member of the Virginia House of Delegates from the 41st district | |
| Assumed office January 14, 2026 | |
| Preceded by | Chris Obenshain |
| Personal details | |
| Born | |
| Party | Democratic |
| Education | Longwood University |
Lily Franklin is an American politician who was elected member of the Virginia House of Delegates in 2025. A member of the Democratic Party, she defeated incumbent Republican candidate Chris Obenshain.
Virginia House of Delegates
Franklin worked as a high school math teacher in a public school.[1] She also served as a state legislative aide.[1]
2023 election
In 2023, Franklin ran as the Democratic candidate for Virginia's 41st House of Delegates district, which covers parts of Montgomery and Roanoke counties.[1][2] She faced Republican Chris Obenshain in a competitive race.[1] The election was not called for nearly a week as provisional ballots were counted.[3]
Franklin lost the 2023 election by a narrow margin.[1] The final margin was 181 votes, 183 votes, or "fewer than 200 votes."[2][3][1] The final result was 50.3 percent for Obenshain to Franklin's 49.6 percent, a margin of less than one percentage point.[2][4][1] During this campaign, Franklin's spending exceeded $960,000.[4]
2025 election
In 2024, Franklin announced she would again seek the 41st District seat in 2025, setting up a rematch with Obenshain.[4] Her announcement included endorsements from U.S. representative Abigail Spanberger and speaker of the house Don Scott.[4]
The race, which was in a district of approximately 55,000 voters, was one of the 10 most-advertised House of Delegates races in Virginia that year.[2] Franklin's campaign outraised her opponent, raising $2.27 million by election day, and spent $910,000 on advertising.[2]
On election night, November 5, 2025, Franklin won the election, flipping the seat from Republican to Democratic control.[3] Unofficial results from that night showed her with a lead of 2.46 percentage points by 10:45 p.m.[3]
Political positions
During her campaigns, Franklin stated that top issues for voters included lowering electric bills and increasing access to affordable home ownership.[1]
As a former public school teacher, Franklin opposes school voucher systems, arguing they take money from public schools and are "not even feasible."[1]
Franklin has stated her support for the Second Amendment while also expressing her belief that "weapons of war don't belong in our classrooms and on our streets."[1]
Franklin is "in full support of reproductive rights" and supports proposed constitutional amendments to protect those rights, as well as legislation to protect access to contraception.[1]
Franklin supports state-level utility reform to lower electric rates and has expressed support for rent caps and other housing incentives.[1] She supports initiatives to bring "good-paying jobs" with benefits to Southwest Virginia.[1]
References
- 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 Israel, Josh (August 1, 2025). "Meet the candidate: Lily Franklin". The Virginia Independent. Archived from the original on August 1, 2025. Retrieved November 5, 2025.
- 1 2 3 4 5 Weir, Luke (November 5, 2025). "Franklin takes rematch with Obenshain in House District 41". Roanoke Times. Archived from the original on November 5, 2025. Retrieved November 5, 2025.
- 1 2 3 4 Beyer, Elizabeth; Schabacker, Emily (November 5, 2025). "Democrats see historic gains in Virginia's House of Delegates races". Cardinal News. Retrieved November 5, 2025.
- 1 2 3 4 Weir, Luke (November 19, 2024). "Franklin to seek rematch in House race". The Roanoke Times. pp. A2. Retrieved November 5, 2025 – via Newspapers.com.