Activist pushes for change in election strategy to curb the rise of anti-Israel voices

If Republicans want to see better results than they did on Nov. 4, when Democrats won landslides in City Hall, governor’s mansions and Congress in New York, New Jersey and Virginia, the GOP needs to start acting more like Democrats, according to a leading conservative voter registration activist.

“Play the game,” Scott Presler told JNS. “This is about fighting fire with a gosh-darn flamethrower and using all of the Democrat tactics against them.”

Presler pointed to expanded mail-in ballot efforts among Amish voters as an example of “play smarter, not harder.” (Amish people traditionally wed on Tuesdays in November, so they often can’t make it to the polls.)

“We got mail-in ballots into the hands of the Amish to get them to vote,” he said. “We used the tools of the Democrats to send Donald Trump back into office.”

The founder of Early Vote Action, a grassroots movement to register Republican voters, Presler said that Orthodox Jews are increasingly engaged in politics. He told JNS that such voters are an “untapped community” for Republicans.

“We must be meeting people where they are,” he said. He advised Republican activists to go to synagogues and knock on doors.

Democrats tell minority communities, “I see you. I hear you. I acknowledge you,” Presler told JNS. “That’s one thing we can do better as a Republican Party.”

The principle is the same for Native Americans in Washington state, the Amish in Pennsylvania and Ohio, and Orthodox Jews in Lakewood, N.J., according to Presler.

“Republicans have to show up,” he told JNS. “Otherwise, you’re not going to get a vote.”

Presler talked to JNS from Gig Harbor High School in Washington state, where he was participating in a voter registration and petition-signing event.

Orthodox Jews in New Jersey overwhelmingly backed the losing Republican candidate, Jack Ciattarelli, who was defeated by Rep. Mikie Sherrill (D-N.J.) in the gubernatorial race. Although Orthodox votes didn’t deliver a win, turnout signaled a community willing to mobilize when its interests are at stake, according to Presler.

“They really enjoyed being seen, being heard. That’s what any voter wants,” he said.

Political participation must become habitual, according to the voter registration activist.

“If you want to be able to continue to have the freedoms you have, you have to vote in every single election,” he said. “You defend yourselves by voting and getting everyone that you know out in every election.”

"Act responsibly in elections"

Presler warned that Zohran Mamdani’s election as New York City’s next mayor reflects a broader political shift.

“We have a socialist, and I would even go as far as to say someone who has deeply antisemitic values, who ran for mayor,” he said of Mamdani.

“I think the fear of some of our cities embracing people with dangerous rhetoric and policies that could hurt the Jewish community is inspiring them to come out to vote,” he told JNS.

He blamed “split-ticket voting” for Mamdani’s victory.

“Unless we act responsibly in elections, you’re going to see a wave of other Zohran Mamdanis that are elected into office,” he said. “Even right here in Washington state.”

© JNS