Joseph Charles Schriner (born March 3, 1955) is an

American American(s) may refer to: * American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America" ** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America ** American ancestry, pe ...

political activist A political movement is a collective attempt by a group of people to change government policy or social values. Political movements are usually in opposition to an element of the status quo, and are often associated with a certain ideology. Some ...

and journalist. Schriner has run for the United States presidency in six consecutive election cycles spanning from 2000 to 2020. Advocating

Christian democratic Christian democracy (sometimes named Centrist democracy) is a political ideology that emerged in 19th-century Europe under the influence of Catholic social teaching and neo-Calvinism. It was conceived as a combination of modern democrati ...

policies, he has primarily run as an

independent candidate An independent or non-partisan politician is a politician not affiliated with any political party or bureaucratic association. There are numerous reasons why someone may stand for office as an independent. Some politicians have political views th ...

, until the 2020 presidential election when he sought the

American Solidarity Party The American Solidarity Party (ASP) is a Christian-democratic political party in the United States. It was founded in 2011 and officially incorporated in 2016. The party has a Solidarity National Committee (SNC) and has numerous active state ...

nomination instead. Schriner's political views largely revolve around

Catholic Social Teaching Catholic social teaching, commonly abbreviated CST, is an area of Catholic doctrine concerning matters of human dignity and the common good in society. The ideas address oppression, the role of the state, subsidiarity, social organizatio ...

. He also ran as a Republican during the early portions of the 2000 and 2016 presidential election cycles. He also vied unsuccessfully for the

Green Party A green party is a formally organized political party based on the principles of green politics, such as social justice, environmentalism and nonviolence. Greens believe that these issues are inherently related to one another as a foundation f ...

presidential nomination during the 2008 election cycle. Schriner has been referred to as "average Joe" in the media. He is also sometimes referred to as "Joe the Painter." He is currently self-employed as a

house painter A house painter and decorator is a tradesman responsible for the painting and decorating of buildings, and is also known as a decorator or house painter.''The Modern Painter and Decorator'' volume 1 1921 Caxton The purpose of painting is to im ...

Early life and education

Joe Schriner was born on March 3, 1955, in

Cleveland, Ohio Cleveland ( ), officially the City of Cleveland, is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Cuyahoga County. Located in the northeastern part of the state, it is situated along the southern shore of Lake Erie, across the U.S ...

. In 1973, he graduated from Bay Village High School, where he was the starting quarterback on the junior varsity football team. Schriner spent his freshman year at

Bluffton College Bluffton University is a private Mennonite university in Bluffton, Ohio. It is accredited by the Higher Learning Commission, with four programs that have earned programmatic accreditation: dietetics, education, music, and social work. The unive ...

Ohio Ohio () is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. Of the List of states and territories of the United States, fifty U.S. states, it is the List of U.S. states and territories by area, 34th-l ...

. After taking a year off from school to work, he transferred to

Bowling Green State University Bowling Green State University (BGSU) is a public research university in Bowling Green, Ohio. The main academic and residential campus is south of Toledo, Ohio. The university has nationally recognized programs and research facilities in the ...

. He majored in journalism, wrote for ''

BG News Founded in 1920, the ''BG News'' is the student-run newspaper at Bowling Green State University, which is published Monday through Friday during the fall and spring semesters and weekly during the summer. It can be picked up at hundreds of locatio ...

'', and completed an

internship An internship is a period of work experience offered by an organization for a limited period of time. Once confined to medical graduates, internship is used practice for a wide range of placements in businesses, non-profit organizations and gover ...

as a

reporter A journalist is an individual that collects/gathers information in form of text, audio, or pictures, processes them into a news-worthy form, and disseminates it to the public. The act or process mainly done by the journalist is called journalism ...

on Ohio's ''

Troy Daily News The ''Miami Valley News'', formerly the Troy Daily News, is an American daily newspaper published every day except Mondays and Saturdays and holidays in Troy, Ohio. Its Sunday edition is called the ''Miami Valley Sunday News''. It is owned by AIM ...

''. Schriner earned a

Bachelor of Arts Bachelor of arts (BA or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts degree course is generally completed in three or four yea ...

journalism Journalism is the production and distribution of reports on the interaction of events, facts, ideas, and people that are the " news of the day" and that informs society to at least some degree. The word, a noun, applies to the occupation (p ...

from Bowling Green State University in 1978.

Early career

Schriner began his career as a

journalist A journalist is an individual that collects/gathers information in form of text, audio, or pictures, processes them into a news-worthy form, and disseminates it to the public. The act or process mainly done by the journalist is called journalis ...

after college for the ''

Sandusky Register The ''Sandusky Register'' is a daily newspaper serving Sandusky, Ohio, as well as nearby Port Clinton and the Lake Erie Islands (collectively known regionally as Vacationland). History The ''Sandusky Register'' has been in production since ...

''. Schriner left the ''Register'' after two years. In 1983, Schriner began working at a halfway house in Lorain as a drug and alcoholism counselor. The halfway house was a 90-day treatment program run operated by the Lorain County Council on Alcoholism and Drug Abuse (LCCADA). During the next two years, Schriner pursued seminar studies to become a drug and alcoholism counselor.

Presidential campaigns

2000 to 2012

Schriner declared his first run for U.S. President with a speech at the

Liberty Bell The Liberty Bell, previously called the State House Bell or Old State House Bell, is an iconic symbol of American independence, located in Philadelphia. Originally placed in the steeple of the Pennsylvania State House (now renamed Independen ...

Philadelphia, Pennsylvania Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the sixth-largest city in the U.S., the second-largest city in both the Northeast megalopolis and Mid-Atlantic regions after New York City. Since ...

, on April 30, 1999. He initially declared as a Republican candidate, but then switched to

independent Independent or Independents may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Artist groups * Independents (artist group), a group of modernist painters based in the New Hope, Pennsylvania, area of the United States during the early 1930s * Independe ...

after George W. Bush won the Republican Primaries. Schriner ran again in 2004, 2008, and 2012. Schriner declared his 2016 candidacy in a

podcast A podcast is a program made available in digital format for download over the Internet. For example, an episodic series of digital audio or video files that a user can download to a personal device to listen to at a time of their choosin ...

on the home page of his official campaign

website A website (also written as a web site) is a collection of web pages and related content that is identified by a common domain name and published on at least one web server. Examples of notable websites are Google, Facebook, Amazon, and W ...

. 2016 marked his fifth consecutive run for president.

2020

Schriner announced he would run in the

2020 United States presidential election The 2020 United States presidential election was the 59th quadrennial presidential election, held on Tuesday, November 3, 2020. The Democratic ticket of former vice president Joe Biden and the junior U.S. senator from California Kamala H ...

as an

candidate. He lost the nomination to

Brian T. Carroll Brian Thomas Carroll (born December 15, 1949) is an American teacher who was the American Solidarity Party's presidential nominee in the 2020 United States presidential election. He is a proponent of Christian democracy. Life and career Carr ...

. He continued to run as an independent.

Personal life

Schriner resides in

Steubenville, Ohio Steubenville is a city in and the county seat of Jefferson County, Ohio, United States. Located along the Ohio River 33 miles west of Pittsburgh, it had a population of 18,161 at the 2020 census. The city's name is derived from Fort Steuben, a ...

. He and his wife Liz have three children. Schriner met his wife, a native of

New Zealand New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island coun ...

, in

Homer, Alaska Homer ( Dena'ina: ''Tuggeght'') is a city in Kenai Peninsula Borough in the U.S. state of Alaska. It is southwest of Anchorage. According to the 2020 Census, the population is 5,522, up from 5,003 in 2010. Long known as the " Halibut Fishing ...

. He is

Catholic The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...

Books

*''America's Best Town'' ( ) *''America's Best Town 2'' ( ) *''Back Road to the White House'' ( )

References

External links

Official websiteVote for Joe Official Site
* Joe's WikiNews Interview from Campaign 2012 {{DEFAULTSORT:Schriner, Joe 1955 births Living people American male journalists American Solidarity Party politicians Ohio Independents Candidates in the 2000 United States presidential election Candidates in the 2004 United States presidential election Candidates in the 2008 United States presidential election Candidates in the 2012 United States presidential election Candidates in the 2016 United States presidential election Candidates in the 2020 United States presidential election People from Cleveland People from Lorain, Ohio American Roman Catholics Ohio Republicans