A far-right activist known for his role in conservative political circles is facing a lawsuit alleging that he violated campaign finance law as part of an effort to remove liberal state judges from the bench.

Scott Presler, founder of the political action committee Early Vote Action, is accused of running a coordinated campaign urging voters to reject the retention of Pennsylvania Supreme Court Justices Christine Donohue and Kevin Dougherty, both Democrats, and David Wecht — a Democrat at the time who is now an independent. The election was a high-stakes contest that could have flipped control of the judiciary in America's largest swing state: Democrats held a 5-2 majority on the seven-member court, and because a failed retention vote creates a vacancy filled through gubernatorial appointment and a subsequent election, voting out all three justices would have handed the bench to Republicans. In the end, all three justices won retention in the November 4 election, keeping the court's Democratic majority intact.

The race also became the most expensive judicial election in US history, with total spending surpassing $100 million as national donors poured money into both sides. According to the liberal elections outlet Democracy Docket, a complaint filed by Public Citizen alleges that Presler and EVA "spent significant but unknown sums to influence voters to 'Vote No' on the retention of" the three justices.

Public Citizen, a watchdog group founded by Ralph Nader in 1971 that regularly files election-law complaints, argues that under Pennsylvania law, any PAC or individual spending money to sway a retention election must register with the state and file regular financial disclosures. Neither Presler nor his PAC ever did so, according to the complaint, despite the campaign's reach extending into national and local media appearances. Those disclosure rules exist so voters can see who is funding efforts to influence their courts; a complaint is an accusation rather than a finding, and any enforcement action would fall to Pennsylvania election authorities.

Presler has a long history of controversy. He has pushed election conspiracy theories and has ties to the extremist QAnon movement. In 2016, he was dismissed from a field office role by the Republican Party of Virginia after he was allegedly caught hooking up with men in a Virginia Beach campaign office and posting explicit images of the incident on Craigslist.

Since then, he has emerged as a relentless advocate for conservative voter registration drives. Presler once claimed that his efforts in Amish Country helped swing Pennsylvania for Trump in 2024, a claim disputed by experts who have examined it. He has also been dismissed as a "grifter" by key Senate Republicans.