Shawnee has always been home.

Chris Odneal at his Swearing In Ceremony

My parents met at Ken's Pizza on Kickapoo, and I was born during a snowstorm at Mission Hill Memorial Hospital.

I'm the proud son of a mom who raised me to work hard and a preacher father who taught me to always keep the faith. I've always been closest to my grandparents, who were very excited to have another boy in the family.

My great-grandmother lived on 120 acres in Bethel Acres until she passed away in 2023 at age 101. She taught me everything I know about running a garden and caring for chickens and horses.

After graduating high school, I worked full-time while putting myself through college at Seminole State. I later worked in Shawnee at ExxonMobil’s technology department before starting my own business in downtown Shawnee in 2007, creating jobs and investing locally.

Running a small business in Downtown Shawnee for twenty years has taught me a lot. I've signed both sides of the paycheck - I know what it's like when times are tough. I started my business just before the economic crash of 2008, and my business survived the COVID-19 pandemic.

Our family LOVES our life here in Shawnee.

Today, my wife Lauren and I live downtown with our children, Silas and Ellis, and our dogs Maible and Hankey-Doodle. Our eldest daughters, Kay and Riley, are both active in college (Boomer Sooner & Fork ‘Em Devils!). Anyone who visits our home will quickly meet our cat, Vernando Santiago Escobar, who insists on being the first to say hello.

We are a multi-generational household; my grandmother and uncle live with us, and we are happy to be her full-time caretakers. I know firsthand what cuts to Medicare look like for families like mine, and I know exactly what it's like to balance being a caretaker, working full time, and raising children.

I am a huge advocate for kids walking and biking to schools. I personally kicked off the bike-bus to Jefferson Elementary School and many others in Shawnee. I want our kids to have full childhoods, playing outdoors and off screens. That's why I'm so passionate about sidewalks and street lamps that come on at dark.

I ran for City Commission in 2024 because I was angry about how many kids were walking on major roads to get to elementary school. While I ran to fix sidewalks, I also made it my mission to figure out what we can do to solve the major homeless problem we are seeing here in Shawnee. I live downtown. When mental health services get cut, I can see it immediately. I serve on the Salvation Army board; at least once a month, I'm cooking dinner for the many people who show up needing that meal.

As your City Commissioner, I've addressed vagrants in our downtown buildings, spearheaded a sidewalk improvement initiative, taken on big tech and got a ban on Data Centers, and now we're working to restore our Downtown spaces into something we all can be proud of.

I'm running for House District 26 because I have watched the folks at the Capitol make things worse for us here at home. So much of what we experience here in Shawnee has to be fixed at the State level. That's why I'm taking what I've learned at the City Commission and going to fight for what we deserve.

I'm asking for your vote so I can bring our hard-earned tax dollars back from OKC and invest them here in Shawnee. I know what it takes to govern; I have a plan to get things done. I'm ready to earn your vote.