Shawnee voters have an open House seat to fill next month, and the two candidates vying for it are not shy about where they split. Republican Leah Longest, 44, and Democrat Chris Odneal, 47, are competing for House District 26, which covers Shawnee, Dale and Bethel Acres in Pottawatomie County. Their top-line disagreements: what to do about Oklahoma's data-center boom, and whether the state needs tighter oversight of massage parlors.
The seat is open because incumbent Rep. Dell Kerbs is running for the Pottawatomie County Board of Commissioners instead of seeking another term, according to NonDoc. Voters will decide the race on Nov. 3, with early voting running from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. Wednesday, Oct. 28, through Friday, Oct. 30, and from 8 a.m. to 2 p.m. on Saturday, Oct. 31, per the same outlet's reporting.
Odneal Wants a Statewide Pause on Data Centers
Odneal, who owns GO Consulting Services, an IT company in downtown Shawnee, wants to extend a policy he already pushed through at the local level. As a Shawnee city commissioner, he sponsored a resolution the City Commission passed unanimously, 7-0, on Aug. 17, placing a temporary moratorium on new large-scale data-center applications through Dec. 31, 2027, according to soldonshawnee.com. City staff estimated the accompanying study and code-update work would take about 90 days, the same outlet reported.
Odneal describes data centers as a nonpartisan issue and says he wants a statewide moratorium or outright ban until Oklahoma works out appropriate policy, the nondoc.com report notes. He has argued that inadequate planning could send utility rates climbing and leave cities short on water. That concern tracks with statewide reporting: The Frontier found at least 18 data-center projects in Oklahoma either under construction or awaiting government approvals, while Oklahoma's two largest utilities are investing more than $1 billion in new power sources and plan to pass some of that cost on to residential customers. Nationally, data-center electricity demand is expected to triple by 2030 and account for roughly 14% of all U.S. power usage, per the same outlet.
Water and Power Bills Already Climbing Elsewhere
Water is part of the worry too. Google's data center in Pryor used more than 1.1 billion gallons of water in the single year ending June 30, 2025, and statewide water demand is projected to grow 18% over the next two decades, according to The Oklahoman. The Oklahoma Water Resources Board projects that by 2075, demand could outstrip available surface water for permitting in parts of the state, including around Oklahoma City and Tulsa, the paper reported. Some developers are responding by proposing dry, air-cooled systems instead of water-cooled ones, though those systems typically draw significantly more electricity, the same report found.
Shawnee's own analysis points to real stakes for residential bills. A National Association of REALTORS report cited by soldonshawnee.com found residential electricity rates climbed 21.4% from 2020 to 2024 in counties with 10 or more data centers, compared with 15.7% in counties without any. Comparable pressure has already shown up elsewhere in the state: Muskogee raised water and utility rates by 2.2% and tacked on a $7.75 monthly sewage-service increase tied to planned data centers, per The Oklahoman, while projects in Tulsa County are projected to use up to 2.2 billion gallons of water annually.
Longest Targets Massage-Parlor Oversight
Longest, who owns State Beauty Supply and Shawnee Beauty College, is focused on a different regulatory gap. She wants increased oversight of massage parlors because the Oklahoma Cosmetology Board oversees massage therapy but lacks inspection authority over the establishments themselves, she told nondoc.com. She said numerous sexual-assault hearings coming before the board shaped that priority. Longest has said she does not plan to introduce bills beyond massage-therapy legislation in her first year unless constituents ask her to.
On education, Longest points to her time on the Grove school board and says she is encouraged by recent changes, backing high classroom standards, continued funding and literacy coaches. But she also wants more student-related decisions made locally, noting that with three children who have different academic needs, she has seen firsthand that some students need support in math or science rather than literacy coaching. Odneal, for his part, has called Oklahoma's 50th-place national education ranking unacceptable, according to nondoc.com.
A Shuttered Mental-Health Clinic Looms Over the Race
Both candidates have been pressed on the fallout from a local mental-health provider's closure. NonDoc reported on the recent closure of Gateway Shawnee, which it said provided mental healthcare services to populations across five counties. A separate report from KOCO had indicated Gateway to Prevention and Recovery in Shawnee was slated to close Sept. 30 after 42 years of service, citing financial challenges and funding cuts.
Longest said losing local substance-abuse treatment services would harm the community. Odneal said he would consider a stopgap measure to prevent further losses of mental-health centers and wants to determine what legislative steps could attract a replacement organization to the area, per nondoc.com.
Closing the Gap Door to Door
Both candidates say they are leaning on retail politics to close out the race. Odneal said he has knocked on 9,000 doors across House District 26 and emphasized he is running for Shawnee rather than against Longest, framing the contest around what he called eight years of a status quo that has hurt everyday Oklahomans. He has also said he wants streets built with sidewalks to support safe walking.
Longest has also been canvassing the district and said she keeps a record of voters' names, addresses and concerns so she can follow up if elected. As the owner of a local small business, she said she wants to help other small businesses in the district navigate the same challenges she has faced.
