Scott Presler, the founder of Early Vote Action (EVA), announced he will turn his attention toward a new state after Pennsylvania flipped red in the 2024 presidential election.
Presler, who moved to Pennsylvania to help flip the crucial battleground state, made a commitment to New Jersey.
“I make a commitment right here & now that we will be registering new Republican voters in New Jersey & commit time in 2025 to the gubernatorial election,” Presler announced.
I make a commitment right here & now that we will be registering new Republican voters in New Jersey
& commit time in 2025 to the gubernatorial election.
— ThePersistence (@ScottPresler) November 11, 2024
Although New Jersey didn’t flip red in the 2024 election, President Trump came within five points of Kamala Harris in the deep-blue state.
According to Decision Desk HQ, Harris defeated Trump in New Jersey 51.8% to 46.3% (about 227,000 votes).
* Image from Decision Desk HQ *
BREAKING: Scott Presler just announced that New Jersey will be the next state he'll help flip by registering new Republican voters.
Trump "lost" New Jersey in 2020 by 16 points; this time, it was only 5 points.
Democrats have a 1 million voter registration advantage. Presler… pic.twitter.com/eYYJGLXXn2
— George (@BehizyTweets) November 11, 2024
Save Jersey wrote:
New Jersey shocked the political world by posting only a 5-point Harris victory margin last week. No Republican presidential nominee has carried the state since 1988, and President Trump came the closest of any GOP nominee since 1992. In the run-up to Election 2024, New Jersey Republicans saw their voter registration deficit with Democrats shrink from well-over one million to just a hair above 900,000 with very little effort expended by the state GOP establishment.
On Election Day, New Jersey Republicans flipped multiple counties (including heavily-Hispanic and Muslim Passaic County in North Jersey) as well as working class enclaves like Cumberland and Atlantic counties in South Jersey.
Pressler’s organization – earlyvoteaction.com – is credited with helping flip key Pennsylvania counties (notably Bucks) from blue to red.
With the close results in New Jersey, some consider the Garden State now a swing state.
“In New Jersey, Democrats outnumber Republicans and control every branch of government. But Tuesday’s vote nonetheless reflected a clear shift,” The New York Times stated.
The outlet reported that New Jersey Gov. Philip Murphy, a Democrat, called it a “sobering moment.”
“A mistake you could make right now is to put your feet up and think this is just an aberration,” he reportedly said.
Trump is on track to win Arizona by more than Harris won New Jersey. Given the growing Lakewood vote, plausible that New Jersey is a swing state four or eight years from now. pic.twitter.com/awaq2fPQJt
— Jacob Hornstein (@Jacob_Hornstein) November 9, 2024
New Jersey didn't get much play, but Biden's 16-point lead in 2020 turned into just a 4 point lead for Harris… almost swing state territory. pic.twitter.com/Y3YdZzsjmq
— Maxim Lott (@maximlott) November 6, 2024
From The New York Times:
The election cycle was extraordinarily tumultuous, and in New Jersey played out against a backdrop of a brazen political corruption scandal that engulfed the state’s longtime Democratic senator, Robert Menendez, making it harder to clearly explain the rightward shift.
“Granted, Democratic organizations across the country didn’t perform well,” said Steven Fulop, Jersey City’s Democratic mayor who is also running for governor.
“But New Jersey actually underperformed most similar states, which only reinforces what I have been saying for years: The party machine here is stale, lazy and has shown no interest in growing the Democratic Party.”
Urban voters have long been a dependable component of the Democratic Party base.
But in Mr. Fulop’s home county, Hudson, where there are 427,000 registered voters, turnout dropped to 214,855 voters this year, down from 250,458 in 2020. In Passaic County, where there are 343,000 registered voters, turnout fell to 191,000, down from 224,000 four years ago.
State Senator Jon Bramnick, an outspoken critic of Mr. Trump, is one of several Republicans already running for governor in 2025. He said Mr. Trump’s third loss in New Jersey — combined with the Democrats’ poor showing — offered proof that a center-right candidate like himself can win.
Two other announced Republican candidates, Jack Ciattarelli, a former state lawmaker, and Bill Spadea, a conservative radio host, support Mr. Trump.