When one thinks of a Republican, the faces one may picture are pretty stereotypical: A hard working farmer with a camo hat. An urban father sick of being abused by Democratic Party lies. A Midwestern woman in a sundress. Maybe even Dwight Eisenhower in a suit and tie.
Rarely does one picture a 6’5″ tall, thin man with hair so long that Eisenhower might have mistaken him for “a hippy.”
But Scott Presler fits that unusual image — and he may have given President-elect Donald Trump the keys to the White House in Pennsylvania almost single-handedly.
Take a look —
- instagram.com/scottpresler
A grassroots organization led by Presler, the Early Vote Action group, helped deliver Pennsylvania’s critical 19 electoral college votes to Trump in the 2024 election through an aggressive voter registration campaign targeting specific demographics, marking a significant shift in Republican ground game strategy.
Trump won Pennsylvania in 2024 after losing it by 80,000 in 2020. In the years since 2020, Presler’s organization registered over 50,000 new Republican voters and increased GOP early voting by 10 points.
Should his voter registration and Republican mail-in ballot efforts continue to grow, it would mean this tall, long-haired activist has successfully transformed American politics in the Republican Party’s favor. Changing Pennsylvania from a swing state to solidly Red forever tears down the Democratic Party’s so-called “Blue Wall.”
“I didn’t invent the wheel. I just took the Democrats’ tools and used it to elect Republicans,” Presler told The New York Post.
The conservative activist focused on previously untapped voter groups, including the Amish community, hunters, and college students. His approach to Amish voters was particularly strategic.
“We’re using the Democrat strategy of mail-in with the Amish,” Presler recetnly told Megyn Kelly’s podcast. “When I tell the Amish that they can vote a private, secret ballot that is mailed to their house, and they don’t have to have their buggy seen going to a polling location, they love the mail-in ballot.”
The campaign received significant backing, including a $1 million donation from Elon Musk in August. Early Vote Action employed 74 field staff and numerous volunteers, focusing on data-driven outreach.
“For the first time in modern history, there are more registered Republicans than Democrats here in this county,” Presler declared at a recent Bucks County commissioners’ meeting, highlighting one of several counties that flipped from Biden to Trump.
Presler’s evolution from provocative demonstrator to effective, potentially election-changing political organizer reflects a broader shift in Republican strategy.
After organizing early events like the 2017 “March Against Sharia” that was blasted by the mainstream media, he refocused on voter registration and turnout efforts — to great success.
Since then, Trump world has embraced the long-haired “hippy” Presler’s success, with RNC co-chair Lara Trump calling him “my friend” and featuring him at campaign events. His influence extends through right-wing media, with regular appearances on shows hosted by Donald Trump Jr., Steve Bannon, and Charlie Kirk.
The victory in Pennsylvania proved crucial to Trump’s return to the White House, with Early Vote Action’s targeted approach helping flip key counties that Biden won in 2020, including Erie, Northampton, Monroe, and Bucks.