Richard D. Obenshain
| Richard D. Obenshain | |
|---|---|
| Born |
Richard Dudley Obenshain October 31, 1935 Abingdon, Virginia, U.S. |
| Died | August 2, 1978 (aged 42) Chesterfield County, Virginia, U.S. |
| Cause of death | Plane crash |
| Alma mater | Bridgewater College (J.D.) |
| Occupation | Attorney and politician |
| Political party | Republican |
| Spouse(s) | Helen W. Obenshain (?–1978, his death) |
| Children |
Mark (b. 1962) Anne Scott (born about 1966) Kate (b. 1969) |
Richard Dudley "Dick" Obenshain (October 31, 1935 – August 2, 1978) was an American attorney and politician. Obenshain had served as the chairman of the Republican Party of Virginia, and was nominated in 1978 to run as the Republican nominee for the United States Senate. However, he died in a plane crash prior to the election.
Obenshain was the son of Josephine (Dudley) and Samuel S. Obenshain (1904–2000), a professor at Virginia Tech in Blacksburg, Virginia, where he grew up. The elder Obenshain was active in Virginia's Republican Party during the era of the Byrd Organization, the Democratic machine of Harry F. Byrd which dominated Virginia's government from his election as Governor in 1925 until the 1966 Democratic primary when two powerful Byrd incumbents lost and Harry F. Byrd, Jr., barely won his father's seat.
Richard graduated from Bridgewater College in Rockingham County, Virginia and was admitted to the Virginia Bar. He was a delegate to the Republican National Convention in 1964, was the unsuccessful Republican candidate for Attorney General in 1969 and became Chairman of the Republican Party of Virginia in 1972.
As early in the 1930s, several Byrd Democrats began splitting their tickets for national elections due to the national party's growing friendliness toward liberal policies. Still, for a long time the Republican Party barely even existed at the state and local level in Virginia. However, under Obenshain's leadership, a record number of Republicans were elected to seats in the Virginia General Assembly, the first such major gains since Reconstruction in the late 19th century following the American Civil War.
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