Copyright Newsweek
A Republican activist who predicted recent election defeats based on door-knock responses has issued a warning to Trump voters ahead of next year’s midterms. Scott Presler told The Sean Spicer Show that unless the GOP embraces early and mail-in voting and rallies voters who support President Donald Trump even when he is not on the ballot, the party risks continued losses in upcoming elections. Newsweek has contacted the Republican National Committee for comment. Why It Matters Presler’s comments follow Republican losses across the country on November 4. In elections seen as bellwethers for the 2026 midterms, the GOP lost governorships, legislative seats and local races—sparking concerns among conservatives over the party’s electoral prospects. What To Know Presler is the founder of Early Vote Action, which works to register GOP voters and encourage them to vote early, absentee, by mail or on Election Day. On Spicer’s podcast on Monday, Presler referred to a video he posted on X in August, in which he warned that data for Pennsylvania and New Jersey showed that the GOP was not hitting its goals for mail-in voting. Presler said that in the August clip, he warned his followers that unless Republicans embraced early and mail-in voting, they would “get clobbered this November.” He told Spicer that it was a call to action for Trump voters, and he pinned the clip to his X account as proof of his warning. Presler added, “I wanted President Trump voters that duly elected him with the popular vote in 2024 to understand that if they want this MAGA America First agenda to continue in the future, they have to vote.” The activist said it was not good enough for Trump voters to cast ballots every four years. While that may win the White House, he added, “you’re going to lose everything in between.” Though Presler touted an increased Republican turnout in Pennsylvania municipal elections, he added that Democrats also substantially increased their turnout and had significantly more mail-in ballot requests compared to Republicans. Presler then issued a direct message to Trump, saying that unless the president planned to go ahead with legislation to ban mail-in voting, he “must stop attacking the very tool that Republicans need in order to keep the House of Representatives.” He added that if the GOP does not use every single tool available, “then we will lose the House of Representatives, and you will be impeached, sir.” Democratic successes in last week’s elections included former Representative Abigail Spanberger winning the governorship in Virginia, Representative Mikie Sherrill winning the gubernatorial race in New Jersey and state Assemblyman Zohran Mamdani winning the New York City mayoral race. Mark Shanahan, an associate professor in politics at the University of Surrey in England, told Newsweek that the deeper story was how progressive voices and motions won across the country. For instance, how Maine voters pushed back against tighter election laws, Colorado increased taxes on high earners to pay for school meals, and California backed Proposition 50 to counter Republican redistricting efforts. Shanahan said of the president, “He won’t take the pushback lying down, and the race for the midterms when the Democrats have a strong chance to overturn the Republican majority in the House of Representatives will undoubtedly turn a lot uglier, but the resistance is coalescing.” What People Are Saying Scott Presler, the founder of Early Vote Action, said on The Sean Spicer Show: “Politics is 24-7, 365. There are no years off, and quite frankly, if you want Trump to be a four-year president, not a two-year president, that means using 2025 to galvanize voters for 2026.” What Happens Next The GOP has downplayed the recent Democratic wins, with House Speaker Mike Johnson saying they took place in blue states and that congressional Republicans had nothing to worry about.
