The conservative activist whose tagline is “Make Kindness Great Again” is bringing his #ThePersistence vibe to his tour of Ohio in support of Republican James B. “Jim” Renacci’s gubernatorial campaign.
“Well, I’m not on a bus tour, but I am in a rental vehicle traveling this state of Ohio, and I’m driving myself. I’m not living a fancy life with a chauffeur,” said Scott Presler, who worked as a dog walker and also for a Northern Virginia school system before he dedicated himself to electing Donald J. Trump president in 2016. “I take care of my own business, but I started in Medina, Ohio, doing a Super Bowl, anti-Woke party with Jim Renacci running for governor.”
Presler said he is traveling all over the state to get the word out before the May 3 primary, when Renacci faces Gov. R. Michael DeWine.
“We went to Springfield, Ohio [and] Columbus, Ohio. Right now, I’m in the car driving safely on the way to Chardon, Ohio,” he said. “Then, I go back to Cincinnati, and I end the trip in Marietta, which is on the border with West Virginia, so we literally are crisscrossing the entire state of Ohio.”
Presler said he tries to keep his message focused and simple.
“My message to the voters is, look, if you are unhappy with our current governor, who limited our ability to travel, who told us that we should limit the amount of people that we have at Thanksgiving and Christmas dinners, who has been forcing our children to wear masks in schools, who has not been providing for parental choice in education, who hasn’t been defunding sanctuary cities as the reckless and feckless Joe Biden administration has been flying illegal immigrants across the country, including into the state of Ohio, on your dime – then I’m asking for your vote,” he said.
“I’m asking for you to vote for a true conservative, and that will be Jim Renacci, your next governor of this state of Ohio; that’s why I’m here,” he said.
The activist, who grew up in a Navy family, splitting his childhood between Northern Virginia and Jacksonville, Florida, said he has gotten to know Renacci.
“I was really drawn to his story that prior to his running for governor, he was a congressman, and the reason why he ran for Congress is because he was a businessman at a car dealership and his business was shut down,” he said.
“He didn’t complain about it. He didn’t whine about it,” Presler said.
“He ran for Congress, defeating the incumbent, and wanted to make a change in Washington, D.C., to better the lives of people of Ohio, like himself, who [are] affected by these anti-business policies,” he said.
“I admire men and women that they don’t just talk about something, but they do something about it, and that’s what I see in Jim Renacci,” said the winner of the Conservative Political Action Conference’s 2021 Ronald Reagan Award for political activism.
Presler said the political activism of parents worried about their kids’ education and resilience under the current COVID-19 mitigation regimes was a positive sign for conservatives in Ohio and across the country.
“In San Francisco, California, one of the bluest cities of the bluest states in the entire country, they just recalled the three school board members,” he said.
“In addition to election integrity, there is no other issue the voters of Ohio feel more strongly about than parental choice in education,” he said.
“I’m going to say this very loudly and clearly, but forcing children to wear masks for eight hours a day in schools is child abuse,” he said.
Presler said he is not only for Renacci but against DeWine, whom he considers the same as having a Democrat leading the state.
“Well, this race, let me be clear. This race is going to be the current Democrat governor versus Jim Renacci,” he said.
“The voters of Ohio have a choice,” he said. “The top two contenders are either DeWine or Renacci – and Renacci, I am confident that he is our strongest chance to defeating DeWine and having a true Republican governor to be able to lead the state of Ohio, and I’ve listened to his speeches, and I believe in his message.”
Presler said he does not understand why anyone would vote for DeWine or retiring Sen. Robert J. Portman, other members of the GOP establishment.
“I can tell you that the Ohio voter doesn’t connect with Rob Portman, the Ohio voter doesn’t connect with John Kasich, the Ohio voter doesn’t connect with Mike DeWine,” he said.
“Those aren’t the people that we respect, because they don’t lead with conservative values, and that’s why I would say there is a very heavy animus, peaceful and democratic; I have to say peaceful and democratic; otherwise, they will call me an insurrectionist,” he said.
“There’s definitely an animus to Mike DeWine, and I think that we’re seeing that in the polls. I think that we’re seeing that in voter registration trends,” he said.
“Ohio is becoming more and more of a red state, but not just Republican, we’re becoming more conservative, and what does that mean?” he asked. “That means no mask mandates, no vaccine passport to open our schools, to open our businesses; fund the police, defund the federal government.”
The Ronald Reagan Award recipient said he is doing more than just giving speeches; he encourages Ohio conservatives to get more involved.
“We’re seeing more involvement now, especially for the 2022 election, and although I was once really focused on voter registration – I still am – I’m also now teaching people how to run for office, and I’ve seen more energy, more enthusiasm, more parental control,” he said.
Presler said he already saw people he had encouraged to get involved get elected to office in Ohio.
“In the year of 2021, I traveled to 28 states, and I did visit Ohio, and I want to give a shout-out to Tina Ludwig, who ran for office, won her election, and because she won her election on the Barberton Ohio Board of Education,” he said.
“That school board has flipped from Democrat to Republican because this woman who was never involved in politics, she decided she wasn’t going to complain or whine, but she was going to do something about it to give students and parents choice,” he said.
“I want to give a shout-out to Josh Day, a father in Xenia, Ohio, who won his election, with the top vote data, despite there being several incumbents, and he now is the president of his school board,” he said.
Presler said the school mask mandates are coming down all over the country.
“Just this last week because of their new conservative leadership, they ended mask mandates in schools, so we’re seeing this from Ohio to Pennsylvania, to Florida, to California.,” he said. “This is a movement nationwide, and I think it’s the future of the Republican Party; the future of conservatism is we are going to provide parents with choice and freedom,” he said.
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Neil W. McCabe is the national political editor of The Star News Network. Send him news tips: [email protected]. Follow him on Twitter: @neilwmccabe2.
Image “Scott Presler” by Scott Presler.
