Chris Saxman was elected in November 2001, to serve in the Virginia House of Delegates representing the 20th District. This District includes the City of Staunton, the western part of Augusta County, the southern part of Rockingham County and all of Highland County. He serves on four House Committees: Commerce and Labor, Transportation, Agriculture, Chesapeake & Natural Resources, and Counties, Cities and Towns. In 2006, Delegate Saxman was appointed to serve as chairman of a transportation subcommittee and in 2008, he was appointed to serve as chairman of the Chesapeake subcommittee of the Committee on Agriculture, Chesapeake and Natural Resources. 

Since the spring of 2003, Delegate Saxman has served as the Chairman of the House Cost Cutting Caucus. This bi-partisan group works to find cost savings in state government, and generally make government more efficient, transparent, accountable and competitive. The Caucus has introduced dozens of legislative initiatives over the past few years, notably the Competitive Government Act and the Budget Reform and State Inspector General Act. Delegate Saxman’s work with the Cost Cutting Caucus has been recognized by media outlets throughout Virginia, as well as having gained attention in the Wall Street Journal’s online publication, OpinionJournal.com. In an effort to build the Caucus, Delegate Saxman decided in 2004 to expand the efforts by making the Caucus bicameral, inviting like-minded members of the Virginia Senate to join the Caucus. Due to its recent successes, the Caucus launched its own blog (http://vacostcutting.blogspot.com) in 2006, offering a public forum for the discussion of innovative ways to streamline state government and save costs.

Under Delegate Saxman's leadership, the Cost Cutting Caucus has initiated Operational Reviews of areas of state government. A collaborative effort between the legislative and executive branches, as well as the private sector, Operational Review teams develop recommendations for improving government performance and ensuring government service delivery is cost-effective. Operational Review areas include Energy, Fleet Maintenance and Acquisition, Travel, Communications, Print, Mail, Solid Waste, Water, Return-to-Work and Accounts Receivable. Operational Review reports are available at the Cost Cutting Caucus blog.

Since 2002, Delegate Saxman has held an appointment on the Joint Commission on Administrative Rules (JCAR), a legislative commission providing regulatory oversight for state agencies. In 2006, his colleagues appointed him to chair JCAR’s Small Business Committee. He also serves on the State Water Commission, the Virginia Schools for the Deaf and Blind Advisory Commission and the Board of Trustees for the Frontier Culture Museum.

In November of 2003, The Hotline, an online publication of the National Journal Group, listed Delegate Saxman as one of the top 20 up-and-coming stars in Virginia Politics. The list included only nine members of the 100-member House of Delegates, and Delegate Saxman was the only first-term Republican legislator noted. In their recent 2006 update, the Hotline noted that many “consider him an up-and-comer in the party.” During the 2007 election cycle, Delegate Saxman served as Honorary Chairman of GOPAC Virginia. GOPAC is a political action committee dedicated to recruiting and electing Republicans to local and state offices and growing the Republican national grassroots network. In 2008, Saxman served as Virginia co-chair of U.S. Senator John McCain's presidential campaign.

Raised in Staunton, Virginia, Chris Saxman graduated from Robert E. Lee High School and received his B.A. in History from Washington & Lee University in 1987. After working in New York, Washington, DC and Philadelphia, Saxman returned to Staunton, where he taught U.S. History and Government for 3 years at Stuart Hall. He then joined the family business, becoming General Manager of Shenandoah Corporation. An active member of his community, Saxman is a member of St. Francis of Assisi Church, the Shenandoah Valley Kiwanis and has served on the Board of the Blue Ridge Area Food Bank. He is also past Chairman of the International Bottled Water Association. Chris Saxman resides in Staunton with his wife, Michele, and their 4 children.