Senator Mark Obenshain (R-Harrisonburg)

Party Republican Photo of Mark Obenshain
District 26: Harrisonburg City (All), Page County (All), Rappahannock County (All), Rockingham County (Part), Shenandoah County (All), Warren County (All) [map]
Took Office January 2004
Next Election November 2011
Committees Agriculture, Conservation and Natural Resources, Courts of Justice, Local Government, Privileges and Elections
Website markobenshain.com
Fundraising $54,389 cash on hand (From VPAP)
Copatroning Habits 68% of bills he copatroned were introduced by Republicans. Of all of the copatrons of his bills, 90% of them are Republicans. Of all of the copatrons of all of the bills that he also copatroned, 57% of them are Republicans.
Partisanship
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Bio

Attorney with Lenhart Obenshain PC. Senate Republican party whip, sharing the duty with Sen. Frank Wagner. Holds degrees from Virginia Tech and Washington & Lee. His father, Richard D. Obenshain, was a major political figure in Virginia throughout the 60s and 70s. His sister, Kate Obenshain Griffin, chaired the Republican Party of Virginia from 2004-6. He is married with two children.
Top Recent Contributors
Donor Sector Total
Rensin, David K Telecommunications $25,000
Virginia Trial Lawyers Assoc Attorneys & law firms $8,000
2007 Conservative Victory Cmte Republican-based groups (but not official party committees) and generic conservative ones $5,000
Allen Allen Allen & Allen Attorneys & law firms $5,000
Lee, David W Uncoded $5,000
Virginia Assoc Of Realtors Real estate $4,964
Beam Bros Trucking Inc Uncoded $4,500
Hupp, Stephen E Uncoded $3,500
See, Randall A Uncoded $3,000
Sipe Jr, James R Real estate developers & subdividers $3,000

Data provided by The National Institute on Money in State Politics.

Recent Mentions on Blogs

Waldo Jaquith: The legislature?s most prolific copatrons.

June 10, 2009
The more time that I spend mapping the social relationships of legislators via their copatroning habits, the more fascinated that I am by this mechanism of exploring the General Assembly. It really is a powerful tool. (To see one of the ways I?m using it on Richmond Sunlight now, check out HB1721 , SB1436 , or HB2482 , where you can see a graph indicating the average partisan position of each bill?s cosponsors.) Here?s a less thoughtful usage of this data, but no less interesting: a listi...

On the Western Banks of the Shenandoah: Weyer?s Cave Ticket Stop a Success

June 4, 2009
Alas, my Flip video camera was AWOL, so I wasn?t able to get video from Monday?s stop by our Republican team at Shenandoah Valley Regional Airport in Weyer?s Cave. However, Steve Kijak over at Righside VA did have his act together and was able to document the event in pictures. The team landed just shortly after noon. On hand to greet them were Delegates Ben Cline, Steve Landes and Matt Lohr; Senator Mark Obenshain; Unit Chairs Mike Meredith, Tracy Evans, Bill Shirley and Chris Darden; and forme...

too conservative: Cuccinelli?s position on the death penalty

May 22, 2009
Rather than ask one of his opponents, or a supporter of one of his opponents, I?d rather just hear it straight from the candidate. Cuccinelli?s position on the death penalty, including the triggerman rule, is reproduced below the fold. Before we get to it, I really wish we would spend the last week before the Convention talking about something else. The death penalty, as an issue, is such a small fraction of what the Attorney General has to deal with, and as Jerry Kilgore so cleverly proved, i...

The Virginia Conservative: Virginia Conservative Endorses Cuccinelli

May 18, 2009
As we are now less than two weeks from the Republican State Convention, I thought I should weigh in on the important Attorney General?s race.  For the attentive folks, you may have noticed that I?ve recently added two graphics links to my page.  One serves to remind you about the RPV Convention.  The other is a link to the Ken Cuccinelli for Attorney General campaign.  When it comes to selecting our next Attorney General, there are a myriad of reasons that can compel you to support a certain can...

www.nvdaily.com: Is Virginia playing 'Beat the Check?'

May 12, 2009
Slow economic growth has tax collections in Virginia running below even the lower expectations written into law earlier this year, according to Democratic Gov. Tim Kaine. Kaine told reporters about the shortfall, which could be about $200 million, in a media gaggle Monday. That could have some local legislators feeling vindicated. Sen. Mark Obenshain has been warning for months that Virginia's budget is based on unrealistic expectations of economic growth -- the same practice that got the s...
Recent Mentions in the Media

Northern Virginia Daily: Budget forecast remains gloomy

June 23, 2009
"That's just not going to happen," said Sen. Mark Obenshain, R-Harrisonburg. Obenshain is one of a number of Republican legislators who have been warning ...and more »

Culpeper Star Exponent: PERSPECTIVE: Independent audit of VDOT would be a start

June 21, 2009
Chapped that VDOT planned to close a string of Interstate 81 rest areas to cut costs, state Sen. Mark Obenshain, R-Harrisonburg, and Del.and more »
From this Legislator’s Twitter Feed

February 10, 2009

markobenshain: has unbuckled. Ride over. #

February 10, 2009

markobenshain: has his seatbelt on. #

February 9, 2009

markobenshain: is pondering reptiles . . . #

February 4, 2009

markobenshain: heals quickly. #

February 3, 2009

markobenshain: just helped defeat a bill (SB 803) to ban the operation of minibikes on private property by anyone under 16 . . . can you say "Nanny state?" #

Bills