By Kris Maher | Photographs by Justin T. Gellerson for WSJ
MANHEIM, Pa. -- Scott Presler has 11,201 unread text messages -- at last count -- and a vision that culminates with putting JD Vance in the White House in 2028.
The 6-foot-5-inch gay GOP activist with a chestnut mane hasn't skipped a beat since the November election. He is juggling campaigns in New Jersey, Wisconsin and Pennsylvania.
But Presler's main goal: turn Pennsylvania permanently red. Republicans trail Democrats by just 180,000 registered voters here, down from a million in 2015. Presler believes he can finish the job by targeting an estimated 300,000 hunters and others not yet on the voting rolls.
"I want to be known as the guy that took Pennsylvania off the table for Democrats," he said. Unfailingly polite, he aims to crush Democrats -- "respectfully, lovingly, peacefully."
With most of America focused on President Trump's turbulent return to Washington, Presler has become a perpetual campaigner who never left the trail and is still working to expand the MAGA movement's influence.
He defends Trump unwaveringly, including his decisions to draw Canada into a trade war, fire tens of thousands of federal workers and deport migrants. "I am willing to pay more money for eggs, if it means deporting criminal illegal aliens," Presler said.
He takes credit for helping Trump win Pennsylvania in November, a claim now part of his brand -- and recently, Trump and Vance rewarded him with an Oval Office meeting.
Mike Mikus, a Democratic strategist in Pennsylvania, says of Presler: "He's good at self promotion, and you got to give him credit for that." Mikus adds that Democrats should focus more on voter registration between elections.
Working from a Chevy
A political force with more than three million social-media followers, Presler maintains his hectic pace by taking 18 supplements daily and fending off people he jokingly calls "energy vampires." Since late February, he visited 10 New Jersey counties to register Republican supporters, and is hitting Wisconsin to campaign for a conservative state Supreme Court candidate before the April 1 election. These days, he says, he mostly lives out of his black Chevy Suburban.
Presler grew up in Fairfax, Va., and earned a criminal justice degree from George Mason University. In 2014, he moved to Texas and landed his first political job: field representative to elect Gov. Greg Abbott.
He backed Trump in 2016 and vaulted to prominence with his 2019 campaign to clean trash from American cities, launched after Trump called Baltimore a "rodent-infested mess."
Democrats attacked Presler for organizing a 2017 nationwide "March Against Sharia" and for attending the Jan. 6, 2021, "Stop the Steal" rally. Presler notes he didn't enter the Capitol and was outside "taking selfies with people." He said the anti-Shariah march was meant to protest extremism after the Pulse nightclub shooting.
When Trump lost Pennsylvania by 80,000 votes in 2020, Presler spotted an opportunity. In 2023, he formed Early Vote Action, a political-action committee that registers voters and commits them to cast ballots early. The organization drew thousands of volunteers nationwide who sent 160,000 postcards to Pennsylvania voters. Presler bought a house north of Pittsburgh so he could vote for Trump in the state.
Now after every post to his 2.2 million X followers, he shares on Threads, Truth Social, GETTR, Telegram, Facebook, Instagram and TikTok. "It is a process," he said. A recent video of himself door-knocking drew 1.5 million views on X.
The mane attraction
Presler, who declines to provide his exact age, has won over conservative evangelicals and others who might not ordinarily champion a gay man. "I break through by earning their respect with hard work," he said.
He is proud of his hair. ("It's the brand," he explains.) Before Fox News appearances, he will spend up to an hour preparing it, though his daily regimen takes half that time. A fan of "Shark Tank," he is contemplating a line of hair-care products.
Presler is often recognized -- or his hair is -- before he says a word.
"Scott! I heard you were coming to Lancaster!" said Marc Schnader, an insurance adjuster out walking his dog, in Manheim, Pa., about 80 miles west of Philadelphia.
Manheim sits in Amish country, and one recent Tuesday at a big local market -- offering everything from whoopee pies to live poultry -- Presler presided over a voter-registration table. Sporting black cowboy boots and pale bluejeans, he urged passersby to vote this fall to remove three Democratic state Supreme Court justices -- something political analysts can't recall happening before.
For five hours, he obliged everyone who wanted to talk or take a selfie.
Matt Arters drove 30 minutes with his wife to celebrate his 53rd birthday by meeting Presler and getting a photo. "I truly believe he played a big part in the red wave of Pennsylvania," said Elaine Arters.
More than a few people became emotional.
"Oh, my God, it's Scott Presler!" said Karen Weatherbie from nearby Mt. Joy. As she posed with Presler, her daughter Elaina Weatherbie remarked she had never seen her mother so happy.
"I love him. I've been watching him since he was picking up trash," Karen Weatherbie said. "He just puts his heart out there and I give him credit for Pennsylvania, I really do."
"I'm mom-approved," Presler said.
Write to Kris Maher at Kris.Maher@wsj.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
March 24, 2025 05:00 ET (09:00 GMT)
Copyright (c) 2025 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.
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