Stephen Faris

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Stephen Faris

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Elections and appointments
Last election

November 8, 2022

Contact

Stephen Faris (independent) ran for election to the U.S. Senate to represent Ohio. He lost as a write-in in the general election on November 8, 2022.

2022 battleground election

See also: United States Senate election in Ohio, 2022

J.D. Vance (R) defeated Tim Ryan (D) in the November 8 general election for U.S. Senate in Ohio. Incumbent Rob Portman (R), who was first elected in 2010, did not run for re-election.[1]

Ryan was elected to the U.S. House in 2002. He was re-elected to represent District 13 in 2020 following an unsuccessful presidential campaign. Ryan campaigned on a range of economic issues, including revitalizing the state's manufacturing industry, a federal $15 minimum wage, the PRO Act, renegotiating existing foreign trade deals, and expanding affordable healthcare.[2] According to the Dayton Daily News, Ryan's campaign focused on blue-collar workers and issues.[3] Ryan said, "You know, I think the last thing that the United States Senate needs is another millionaire who got funded by a billionaire to the tune of $15 million or who comes out of Silicon Valley."[4] Sherrod Brown (D), Ohio's other U.S. senator, endorsed Ryan.[5]

Vance served in the U.S. Marine Corps from 2003 to 2007, before working in venture capital in San Francisco. In 2016, he wrote Hillbilly Elegy, a memoir about growing up in Middletown, Ohio. Vance campaigned on bringing manufacturing back to Ohio, fixing the country's immigration system and completing the wall along the southern border, and breaking up large technology companies.[6] Vance said, "We really need people who are solving the big problems. We’ve had way too much time of politicians trying to tinker around the edges just trying to fix the superficial."[4] Former President Donald Trump (R) endorsed Vance.[7]

Donald Trump won Ohio by eight percentage points in 2016 and 2020. Portman won re-election in 2016 by 19 percentage points. Sherrod Brown (D), Ohio's other U.S. Senator at the time of the election, last won re-election in 2018 by seven percentage points.

Elections

2022

See also: United States Senate election in Ohio, 2022

General election

General election for U.S. Senate Ohio

The following candidates ran in the general election for U.S. Senate Ohio on November 8, 2022.

Candidate
%
Votes
Image of https://s3.amazonaws.com/ballotpedia-api4/files/thumbs/100/100/J.D._Vance.png
J.D. Vance (R)
 
53.0
 
2,192,114
Image of https://s3.amazonaws.com/ballotpedia-api4/files/thumbs/100/100/Tim_Ryan_OH.JPG
Tim Ryan (D)
 
46.9
 
1,939,489
Image of https://s3.amazonaws.com/ballotpedia-api4/files/thumbs/100/100/John_Cheng.jpeg
John Cheng (Independent) (Write-in) Candidate Connection
 
0.0
 
702
Image of https://s3.amazonaws.com/ballotpedia-api4/files/thumbs/100/100/ShaneHoffman.png
Shane Hoffman (Independent) (Write-in)
 
0.0
 
403
Image of https://s3.amazonaws.com/ballotpedia-api4/files/thumbs/100/100/255420737_120626313738209_2497732175002132702_n.jpg
LaShondra Tinsley (Independent) (Write-in)
 
0.0
 
362
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Stephen Faris (Independent) (Write-in)
 
0.0
 
194
Silhouette Placeholder Image.png
Matthew Esh (Independent) (Write-in)
 
0.0
 
78

Total votes: 4,133,342
Candidate Connection = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
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Withdrawn or disqualified candidates

Democratic primary election

Democratic primary for U.S. Senate Ohio

Tim Ryan defeated Morgan Harper and Traci Johnson in the Democratic primary for U.S. Senate Ohio on May 3, 2022.

Candidate
%
Votes
Image of https://s3.amazonaws.com/ballotpedia-api4/files/thumbs/100/100/Tim_Ryan_OH.JPG
Tim Ryan
 
69.6
 
359,941
Image of https://s3.amazonaws.com/ballotpedia-api4/files/thumbs/100/100/Morgan_Harper.png
Morgan Harper Candidate Connection
 
17.8
 
92,347
Image of https://s3.amazonaws.com/ballotpedia-api4/files/thumbs/100/100/9mttSpc.png
Traci Johnson Candidate Connection
 
12.6
 
65,209

Total votes: 517,497
Candidate Connection = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey.

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Withdrawn or disqualified candidates

Republican primary election

Republican primary for U.S. Senate Ohio

The following candidates ran in the Republican primary for U.S. Senate Ohio on May 3, 2022.

Candidate
%
Votes
Image of https://s3.amazonaws.com/ballotpedia-api4/files/thumbs/100/100/J.D._Vance.png
J.D. Vance
 
32.2
 
344,736
Image of https://s3.amazonaws.com/ballotpedia-api4/files/thumbs/100/100/JMandel.jpg
Josh Mandel
 
23.9
 
255,854
Image of https://s3.amazonaws.com/ballotpedia-api4/files/thumbs/100/100/Matt-Dolan.jpg
Matt Dolan
 
23.3
 
249,239
Image of https://s3.amazonaws.com/ballotpedia-api4/files/thumbs/100/100/Michael_Gibbons.jpg
Mike Gibbons
 
11.7
 
124,653
Image of https://s3.amazonaws.com/ballotpedia-api4/files/thumbs/100/100/Jane_Timken.jpeg
Jane Timken
 
5.9
 
62,779
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Mark Pukita Candidate Connection
 
2.1
 
22,692
Image of https://s3.amazonaws.com/ballotpedia-api4/files/thumbs/100/100/NeilPatel.jpeg
Neil Patel Candidate Connection
 
0.9
 
9,873

Total votes: 1,069,826
Candidate Connection = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey.

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Withdrawn or disqualified candidates

2018

See also: United States Senate election in Ohio, 2018

General election

General election for U.S. Senate Ohio

Incumbent Sherrod Brown defeated Jim Renacci in the general election for U.S. Senate Ohio on November 6, 2018.

Candidate
%
Votes
Image of https://s3.amazonaws.com/ballotpedia-api4/files/thumbs/100/100/Sherrod_Brown.jpg
Sherrod Brown (D)
 
53.4
 
2,355,923
Image of https://s3.amazonaws.com/ballotpedia-api4/files/thumbs/100/100/James_Renacci.jpg
Jim Renacci (R)
 
46.6
 
2,053,963
 Other/Write-in votes
 
0.0
 
1,012

Total votes: 4,410,898
(100.00% precincts reporting)
Candidate Connection = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey.

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Withdrawn or disqualified candidates

Democratic primary election

Democratic primary for U.S. Senate Ohio

Incumbent Sherrod Brown advanced from the Democratic primary for U.S. Senate Ohio on May 8, 2018.

Candidate
%
Votes
Image of https://s3.amazonaws.com/ballotpedia-api4/files/thumbs/100/100/Sherrod_Brown.jpg
Sherrod Brown
 
100.0
 
613,373

Total votes: 613,373
Candidate Connection = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey.

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Republican primary election

Republican primary for U.S. Senate Ohio

Jim Renacci defeated Mike Gibbons, Melissa Ackison, Dan Kiley, and Don Eckhart in the Republican primary for U.S. Senate Ohio on May 8, 2018.

Candidate
%
Votes
Image of https://s3.amazonaws.com/ballotpedia-api4/files/thumbs/100/100/James_Renacci.jpg
Jim Renacci
 
47.3
 
363,622
Image of https://s3.amazonaws.com/ballotpedia-api4/files/thumbs/100/100/Michael_Gibbons.jpg
Mike Gibbons
 
31.7
 
243,426
Image of https://s3.amazonaws.com/ballotpedia-api4/files/thumbs/100/100/Melissa_with_Flag.jpg
Melissa Ackison
 
13.1
 
100,543
Silhouette Placeholder Image.png
Dan Kiley
 
4.0
 
30,684
Image of https://s3.amazonaws.com/ballotpedia-api4/files/thumbs/100/100/Don_Elijah_Eckhart.jpg
Don Eckhart
 
3.9
 
29,796

Total votes: 768,071
Candidate Connection = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey.

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Withdrawn or disqualified candidates

Campaign themes

2022

Ballotpedia survey responses

See also: Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection

Stephen Faris did not complete Ballotpedia's 2022 Candidate Connection survey.

2018

Ballotpedia survey responses

See also: Ballotpedia's candidate surveys
Candidate Connection

Stephen Faris participated in Ballotpedia's candidate survey on September 16, 2018. The survey questions appear in bold, and Stephen Faris' responses follow below.[8]

What would be your top three priorities, if elected?

My legislative priorities are:
1) legally define unborn human beings as persons;
2) protect unborn persons;
3) prosecute organizations that deprive unborn persons of their right to life or right to equal protection of our laws;
4) preserve families of unborn persons.
My first priority legally defines unborn human beings, at any developmental stage, as persons. A person's life is the span of events beginning with conception and ending with natural death. This was proven in science since Roe v. Wade. Recognition of one's life at some arbitrary milestone apart from existence leads to unjust discrimination. Legally defining unborn human beings as persons will be achieved in Congress (without the Supreme Court) by amending Title 1 U.S.C. Section 8. My second priority requires States to issue a 'certificate of life' when individual unborn persons are medically recognized to exist. I will ensure that drugs and techniques intended to deprive unborn persons of life are prohibited. ​I will ensure that Title 18 U.S.C. Section 241 is amended as a Civil Rights Act with protections for unborn persons equivalent to those of born persons to impose punishments on those conspiring to deprive unborn persons of their Constitutional right to life or right to equal protection. I will protect unborn persons who are conceived by in vitro fertilization from commoditization, genetic discrimination, experimentation, and trafficking (any form of involuntary servitude). I will ensure unborn persons are legally protected from individual acts of violence intended to deprive them of life. My third priority ensures that Federal funds and benefits are stripped from organizations that deprive unborn persons of life. Each organization will be referred to the Justice Department for prosecution under Title 18 U.S.C. Section 241, 'conspiracy against rights’. Federal funds that were ever available to these organizations will instead be made available in whole (every dollar) to crisis and non-crisis pregnancy centers that have certified they have never deprived an unborn person of life. Due to the lawlessness demonstrated in Roe v. Wade, I will support impeachment measures against Supreme Court Justices or Federal Judges who resort to political activism against any person in any ruling. ​My fourth priority uses every means available to promote mercy and healing towards the women and men of our nation who have been impacted by the deprivation of life and denial of equal protection to unborn persons. I will ensure the provision of restorative and healing services and ​I will ensure the restoration to fathers the equal right to protect their unborn children in our society. ​I will always support measures preserving men and women as equals at home, in society, and before the law. I will always support and defend marriage between one man and one woman and I will celebrate, honor, and instill confidence in family offices of fatherhood and motherhood. I will ensure provision of incentives to build strong family foundations and until such incentives are available, ​I will ensure the current Federal support structure is undisturbed.[9][10]

What areas of public policy are you personally passionate about? Why?

I am passionate about supporting and defending the rights we hold as citizens and persons in the United States of America, particularly rights of unborn persons. Some would contend that all rights are granted at birth with citizenship, but I contend that the right to life and the right to equal protection of law belongs to all persons in our jurisdiction and that these rights, as well as personhood, which does not begin at birth, but conception, are never granted, but only recognized when a person can be said to exist. I am running for U.S. Senate because I so strongly believe that the right to life and the right to equal protection must be preserved for ALL persons in America. Do we not hold these truths as self-evident, that ALL are created (conceived) equal, that ALL are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these is Life? To secure this right, are not Governments instituted? The U.S. Constitution directs the Federal Government in the 5th Amendment, "No person shall be deprived of life without due process of law.” The U.S. Constitution directs State Governments in the 14th Amendment, "No State shall deprive any person of life without due process of law, nor deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws." ​I am running for U.S. Senate because our Federal and State Governments, Republicans and Democrats alike, have FAILED to preserve these rights to ALL persons in America, primarily to our own unborn children. In Roe v. Wade (1973), the Supreme Court lawlessly ruled that unborn persons may be deprived of life without due process of law and that States may and must deny equal protection of their laws to unborn persons. ​I am running for U.S. Senate because I believe this nationwide problem can be solved by ONLY the Federal Government. The States MAY NOT decide this matter except to do their Constitutional duty. ​I am running for U.S. Senate because I believe this nationwide problem is best solved politically and NOT by waiting for the Supreme Court. Why should we delay and hang so much on so few when we have the ability and authority in ourselves? The People, through Congress, can overrule the Supreme Court. I am running for U.S. Senate because I believe I can win and effectively lead after winning. I have a solid platform that balances the serving of Justice with the offering of Mercy after 45 years of lawlessness since Roe v. Wade. Federal, State, and County officeholders, Republican and Democrat alike, have failed in keeping their oath to support and defend the U.S. Constitution. Our Governments and Parties led us into sin against God and against ourselves. Justice and Mercy await. I am running for U.S. Senate as a single-issue, no-party, write-in candidate. Without the right to life for ALL, no other right, no other issue, no other conversation makes sense.Cite error: Invalid <ref> tag; invalid names, e.g. too many[10]

Ballotpedia also asked the candidate a series of optional questions. Stephen Faris answered the following:

Who do you look up to? Whose example would you like to follow and why?

I look up to, and would like to follow the example of, the Founding Fathers, specifically the signers of the Declaration of Independence. They withstood a ‘long train of abuses and usurpations’ from the King of Great Britain, yet they had the wherewithal to declare their cause to their oppressor and to the world, dissolve political ties, and pledge their lives, fortunes, and sacred honor to each other to do so.[10]
Is there a book, essay, film, or something else that best describes your political philosophy?
I recommend the Declaration of Independence and the U.S. Constitution. From these, it is quite clear that ALL persons (born or unborn) are equal and that the right to life and the right to equal protection must be preserved to ALL. To make exceptions to this is tyranny.[10]
What characteristics or principles are most important for an elected official?
It is most important for an elected official to know WHY he or she exists and HOW to do his or her duty. Elected officials must know their charter of government, and the role of their office, inside and out. Elected officials should expediently do what they were elected to do.[10]
What qualities do you possess that would make you a successful officeholder?
I will be successful as a senator because I know the Constitution. I know my purpose. Where the Constitution allows opinion, I will seek the widest base of opinion, beginning with my constituents. I create vision, communicate it, and lead others to it. I am inflexible with the standard, but very flexible with the nuts and bolts of whatever needs to be accomplished. I take and keep initiative until the job is done. I set up future generations for the same success.[10]
What do you believe are the core responsibilities for someone elected to this office?
The core responsibility of U.S. Senators is to properly wield, with the House of Representatives, the legislative powers granted by the U.S. Constitution. Senators are responsible to give advice and careful consent or non-consent on the treaties the President has the power to make and on the officers of the United States the President has the power to nominate for appointment. Senators are responsible to take under careful consideration any measure the President recommends to be necessary and expedient for the State of our Union. Senators are responsible to try all impeachments. Senators are responsible to represent their State while conducting the business of the United States.[10]
What legacy would you like to leave?
I would like to continue the legacy of the United States that ALL persons (born or unborn) are equal and that the right to life and the right to equal protection must be preserved to ALL.[10]
What is the first historical event that happened in your lifetime that you remember? How old were you at that time?
The first historical event that I remember was the elections of 1988. I was six years old.[10]
What was your very first job? How long did you have it?
My first job was with McDonald’s. I worked at two of them at the same time to help pay for college. One was in Akron and one was on campus at Kent State University. I worked for McDonald's for about a year total.[10]
What is your favorite holiday? Why?
My favorite holiday is Thanksgiving. There are lots of reasons to be thankful, to bring out the good food, and to celebrate.[10]
What is your favorite book? Why?
My favorite books are Steven Pressfield novels because they are so richly developed in historical and military context.[10]
If you could be any fictional character, who would you be?
If I could be any fictional character, I would be Steven Rogers, a.k.a. Captain America.[10]
What is your favorite thing in your home or apartment? Why?
My favorite thing at home is my recliner. It’s a great place to relax. It’s also large enough for my wife to join me. Or my daughters. Or my dog. Or all of them at the same time.[10]
What was the last song that got stuck in your head?
The last song to get stuck in my head was The Jackson 5, “Blame it on the Boogie.”[10]
What is something that has been a struggle in your life?
Something that is a struggle in my life is making time to relax. I’d love to take a nice vacation with my wife.[10]
What qualities does the U.S. Senate possess that makes it unique as an institution?
What makes the U.S. Senate a unique institution is all in the name, ‘Senate’. It is the senior assembly, the assembly of elders, the upper chamber, where advisory and decision-making power is reserved to wise, sober thinkers.[10]
Do you believe that it’s beneficial for senators to have previous experience in government or politics?
It is beneficial in some ways, though I do not believe it necessary, for Senators to have previous experience in government or politics. If Senators are experienced with wisdom, they should do just fine.[10]
What do you think of the filibuster?
I think of the filibuster as a tool in the toolbox.[10]
What criteria would you apply when deciding whether to confirm presidential appointees?
When confirming presidential appointees, appointees must know the Constitution and the role of the office for which they are appointed, inside and out. They must be able to demonstrate this knowledge, in a public record if one exists, and in confirmation hearings.[10]
What do you perceive to be the United States’ greatest challenges as a nation over the next decade?
The United States’ greatest challenge over the next decade is whether or not it will address long standing issues or leave them to worsen with age. The primary example of this is the continued deprivation of life and the continued denial of equal protection of law to unborn persons since 1973. The Constitution is clear in the 5th and 14th Amendments that no person shall be deprived of life without due process of law and that States shall not deny to any person in their jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws. Science has proven that a person’s life begins at conception, yet the Federal Government struggles to challenge the longstanding expectation that some of us can be arbitrarily denied life and equal protection by the choices of others of us. We certainly ought to resolve this issue before it worsens beyond repair.[10]
Do you believe it’s beneficial to build relationships with other senators?
I absolutely believe it to be beneficial to build relationships with other senators. In the multitude of counselors, there is safety (Proverbs 11:14). Passage of wisdom is a two-way street.[10]
If you are not a current senator, are there certain committees that you would want to be a part of?
To address my legislative priorities to ensure preservation of the right to life and the right to equal protection for ALL persons in America, I must first be a member of the Senate Committee on the Judiciary and the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP). Once it becomes necessary, I will serve on the Senate Committee on Finance and the Senate Committee on Appropriations. Senate rules limit the number of ‘Class A’ committees any Senator may serve to two.[10]
If you are not currently a member of your party’s leadership in the U.S. Senate, would you be interested in joining the leadership? If so, in what role?
I am not party affiliated, but I intend to play a leadership role for both parties.[10]
Is there a particular senator, past or present, whom you want to model yourself after?
There is no particular senator that I wish to model.[10]

See also


External links

Footnotes


Senators
Representatives
District 1
District 2
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Bob Latta (R)
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Vacant
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Republican Party (10)
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