Chris grew up in the Mojave Desert (In Palmdale, Ca. 50 miles north of Los Angeles) near the dry lake beds of Edwards Airforce Base, where the Space Shuttle landed and test pilot Chuck Yeager broke the sound barrier.
Born 9th to a large working class family of 12 children, Chris reminises that "growing up in such a large family was more like living in a small community, it was “A Double Brady Bunch” of 6 boys and 6 girls. Being “one of many” helped shape his world view, in that his upbringing hardwired him to seek the greatest good for the greatest number. Chris quips, “I agree with Spock – The needs of the many outweigh the needs of the few or the one. Utilitarianism isn't a software upgrade or a patch in my code, I come preprogrammed that way out-of-the-box.”
Chris' father and grandfather were truck drivers, who originated from a rough Irish Roman Catholic borough in the heart of Chicago (on 43rd & Wentworth, his dad would always say...) where his grandfather helped to form the AFL and his father shoveled coal as a steam locomotive fireman on the Illinois Central Railroad. Growing up, Chris wanted to become a pilot, an astronomer and an astronaut, however, he followed in his father's and grandfather's footsteps driving for a living, after working as an aircraft electrician on the B-1 bomber for Rockwell and a structural mechanic for McDonnell Douglas.
Chris' mother was born in Appleton, Wisconsin to German Ashkenazim Jewish immigrants and she attended Defiance College, where her first husband (who died of leukemia) taught and his father, Kevin McCann, (Chris's grandfather) was Defiance College president. Chris's mother was a state worker, who served as an adjudicator for the California State Employment Development for 20 years and retired to Oregon to live near Chris's older sisters. Soon after, Chris followed his mother to Oregon in 1998 to help his sisters care for his mother, after she was diagnosed with ovarian, then, breast cancer.
Chris has only one child (His daughter, Madison) visited 3 to 4 times a year, and Chris began attending school to follow in his mother, brother and sister's footsteps. Chris studied Speech Communication and went to state, regionals and nationals in speech and debate through Clackamas Community College and soon transferred to Portland State University (on September 25, two weeks after 9/11) to pursue a minor in civic leadership and a major in communication studies. Chris placed his study emphasis in conflict resolution and fast became politically engaged in myriad of social and economic justice issues.
Not long after Chris' transfer to PSU, one of his older sisters (who was attending college along side him at Marylhurst University in West Linn) became diagnosed with breast cancer at the end of 2001 and lost her battle at the end of 2003. To stay busy, Chris was co-chairing the Willamette Neighborhood Association (A historic community in West Linn, Or.) and dropped out of college to help others organize unions at two local concrete ready-mix companies. Chris re-entered PSU and soon dropped out again to take a job hauling LTL freight and to co-chair the Oregon state Green Party in 2004.
In 2008, Chris stepped down as Green Party state chair to run against Representative David Wu and complete a “Peace Slate” of candidates that helped fill all five Oregon US Congressional races – an Oregon Green Party first. It was at that point that Chris' mother handed him a book (Man From Abilene) and said, “Here, read this… Your grandfather wrote this and was also involved in politics.” After that, Chris ran again for David Wu's seat in 2010 (Wu resigning only months after), then, in 2012 for Attorney General and in 2014 for Governor (With Kitzhaber also resigning only months after).
Chris is a father and grandfather. Chris' first grandchild was born on the same day that he filed (August 30th, 2016) to run as a candidate for State Treasurer and his second granddaughter was born on Father's Day 2020.
Born 9th to a large working class family of 12 children, Chris reminises that "growing up in such a large family was more like living in a small community, it was “A Double Brady Bunch” of 6 boys and 6 girls. Being “one of many” helped shape his world view, in that his upbringing hardwired him to seek the greatest good for the greatest number. Chris quips, “I agree with Spock – The needs of the many outweigh the needs of the few or the one. Utilitarianism isn't a software upgrade or a patch in my code, I come preprogrammed that way out-of-the-box.”
Chris' father and grandfather were truck drivers, who originated from a rough Irish Roman Catholic borough in the heart of Chicago (on 43rd & Wentworth, his dad would always say...) where his grandfather helped to form the AFL and his father shoveled coal as a steam locomotive fireman on the Illinois Central Railroad. Growing up, Chris wanted to become a pilot, an astronomer and an astronaut, however, he followed in his father's and grandfather's footsteps driving for a living, after working as an aircraft electrician on the B-1 bomber for Rockwell and a structural mechanic for McDonnell Douglas.
Chris' mother was born in Appleton, Wisconsin to German Ashkenazim Jewish immigrants and she attended Defiance College, where her first husband (who died of leukemia) taught and his father, Kevin McCann, (Chris's grandfather) was Defiance College president. Chris's mother was a state worker, who served as an adjudicator for the California State Employment Development for 20 years and retired to Oregon to live near Chris's older sisters. Soon after, Chris followed his mother to Oregon in 1998 to help his sisters care for his mother, after she was diagnosed with ovarian, then, breast cancer.
Chris has only one child (His daughter, Madison) visited 3 to 4 times a year, and Chris began attending school to follow in his mother, brother and sister's footsteps. Chris studied Speech Communication and went to state, regionals and nationals in speech and debate through Clackamas Community College and soon transferred to Portland State University (on September 25, two weeks after 9/11) to pursue a minor in civic leadership and a major in communication studies. Chris placed his study emphasis in conflict resolution and fast became politically engaged in myriad of social and economic justice issues.
Not long after Chris' transfer to PSU, one of his older sisters (who was attending college along side him at Marylhurst University in West Linn) became diagnosed with breast cancer at the end of 2001 and lost her battle at the end of 2003. To stay busy, Chris was co-chairing the Willamette Neighborhood Association (A historic community in West Linn, Or.) and dropped out of college to help others organize unions at two local concrete ready-mix companies. Chris re-entered PSU and soon dropped out again to take a job hauling LTL freight and to co-chair the Oregon state Green Party in 2004.
In 2008, Chris stepped down as Green Party state chair to run against Representative David Wu and complete a “Peace Slate” of candidates that helped fill all five Oregon US Congressional races – an Oregon Green Party first. It was at that point that Chris' mother handed him a book (Man From Abilene) and said, “Here, read this… Your grandfather wrote this and was also involved in politics.” After that, Chris ran again for David Wu's seat in 2010 (Wu resigning only months after), then, in 2012 for Attorney General and in 2014 for Governor (With Kitzhaber also resigning only months after).
Chris is a father and grandfather. Chris' first grandchild was born on the same day that he filed (August 30th, 2016) to run as a candidate for State Treasurer and his second granddaughter was born on Father's Day 2020.