Presler’s posthumous birthday present to Kirk: a Bucks early-vote drive

Early voting commenced in Pennsylvania yesterday, the same day Charlie Kirk would have turned 32. So Scott Presler came to the heart of Doylestown to celebrate the life and work of the late MAGA lion in a way Presler believes his friend would have loved.

“Charlie dedicated his life to getting out the vote, electing good people into office,; and I would argue that we wouldn’t have President Trump and we would definitely not have a Republican Congress right now if it weren’t, in part, for Charlie Kirk’s work,” Presler said.

All day, the activist stood near the Bucks County Justice Center with staff and volunteers of his Early Vote Action (EVA), greeting interested voters preparing to enter the courthouse to complete and cast ballots. The nonprofit encourages right-leaning Americans to register as Republicans and to vote early by whatever means their states allow. EVA and allied groups had stacks of voter registration forms, mail-in ballot applications, and informational handouts ready for those who stopped by. By some accounts, visitors numbered around 100 before 11 a.m. 

Many accepted t-shirts with the word “FREEDOM” emblazoned across the front. Presler said these giveaways expressed a theme Kirk held dear, recalling the Turning Point USA founder wore a similar shirt when an assassin’s bullet took his life at an outdoor oration at Utah Valley University. 

“Truly, this is what the fight is,” said Presler, who frequently worked with Kirk and credits him with ushering him into national campaign work. “We’re fighting against tyranny, we’re fighting against government overreach, and the fight for freedom doesn’t end just because we elected Donald Trump into office. We are trying to get Republicans to vote in every single election.”

Brendan McCusker, assistant director of Bucks County Votes, a year-round political field operation focusing on mail-in voting, echoed that sentiment.

“Every election’s important,” he averred. “There’s no such thing as an off-year election.”

This focus, Presler said, exemplifies the peaceful but tenacious approach Kirk himself took toward politics, arguing with leftists on many college campuses in hope of changing minds, and urging change through electoral victory.

“The world is watching how we respond to Charlie Kirk’s assassination,” Presler said. “We’re not going to respond with violence; we’re not going to respond with burning down buildings; we’re not going to respond with anything other than peace. And also, we fight with ballots, not bullets.” 

The seasoned activist observed that turnout inevitably drops in years like this one when no one is seeking the White House or a seat in Congress. But Pennsylvanians will make big decisions on November 4 or in the run-up to it: Three Democratic State Supreme Court Justices — David Wecht, Christine Donohue, and Kevin Dougherty — are vying for retention, having won elections against Republicans ten years ago. 

EVA wants voters to fire all three, taking particular issue with their permitting Covid lockdowns, extending the 2020 voting deadline, and letting the commonwealth remove Green Party presidential nominee Howie Hawkins from the 2020 ballot.

Retired King of Prussia lawyer John O’Brien was among the group’s volunteers that day. He objected to the judges’ retention because he opposes life tenure. 

“I call this term limits by election,” he explained. “As a lawyer, I know judges shouldn’t have a lifetime job, particularly if they’re elected.” 

EVA’s Bucks County efforts extend far beyond Doylestown Borough, where employees and helpers also knocked doors to get out the GOP vote. Over the course of four days, workers have canvassed in Warrington Township and hope to door-knock in Yardley Borough, red-trending Bensalem Township, and other Lower Bucks communities. The group has spread its messaging to 104,000 Bucks voters via text messages as well. 

Scores of local candidates, including Bucks County row offices, five of which are now contested between incumbent Republicans and Democratic challengers, also appear on the 2025 ballot. Presler and other EVA staff put special emphasis on their support for District Attorney Jen Schorn and Sheriff Fred Harran. 

“Please keep in mind safety and law and order —; that’s on the ballot,” EVA regional coordinator Alix Paul said in support of Schorn and Harran. “We have our sheriff and our DA who are great candidates, especially compared to the other candidates from the opposition. The sheriff [candidate Danny Ceisler] on the other side has zero law enforcement experience, which just makes no sense to me.” 

While Ceisler has contended with that complaint on the campaign trail, prosecution is generally considered law enforcement and he has two years of experience in that field, working at the Philadelphia District Attorney’s Office while attending law school at Temple. He would eventually aid numerous prosecutions, chiefly concerning narcotics. 

“Working closely with the [Philadelphia Police Department’s] Narcotics Strike Force and other law enforcement agencies, I built cases and removed dangerous criminals from our streets,” Ceisler told The Independence. “Throughout my professional career and training, I have worked closely with every law enforcement agency that covers our area — from local police, to state police, to the FBI.”

Now a company operations executive, Ceisler also served in the military, including a stint in Afghanistan where he participated in planning over 90 anti-terrorist raids. He said this experience was educational for someone who wants a job that will include serving warrants. 

“I have led soldiers from a variety of military specialities different from my own to execute complex missions under extraordinarily high-pressure conditions — and those same leadership principles apply to leading any team,” he said. 

His opponent Harran is a longtime area law enforcer, having served as Bensalem Township’s head of public safety before becoming sheriff. Harran and Ceisler have clashed pointedly over policy matters, mainly Harran’s office’s partnership with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, an arrangement Ceisler opposes.

While turnout in May’s primary election favored Bucks County’s Democrats this year, Presler wants GOP voters to take heart in the sea change they effected last year, turning a roughly 15,000-voter Democratic advantage into a 10,000-voter Republican one. The county went for the Republican Trump against Democrat Kamala Harris by about 300 votes, reversing decades of Democratic success. 

Whatever happens, the EVA head declared, he plans to push for change in the Keystone State’s legislative elections in 2026. A Beaver County resident, he is represented by Democrat Rob Matzie, whose party narrowly controls the state House of Representatives. Matzie’s moderate district has stoked GOP appetites for a potential pickup. 

“If he doesn’t act right, then peacefully he may have to go,” Presler said.

Bradley Vasoli is the senior editor of The Independence.