Put Trump on the ballot in 2026

Republicans are still licking their wounds after the off-cycle shellacking in November, where Democrats flipped 21% percent of GOP state legislative seats and won the governorships in Virginia and New Jersey. If they have any hope of keeping the slim majority in the House during the 2026 midterm elections, they will need to use every tool in the toolbox.

White House Chief of Staff Susie Wiles has a plan to do just that, using the biggest tool of all: Campaigner-in-Chief Donald J. Trump. Now Trump has to make a choice: Does he want to accept help and share his power, or does he want to continue bulldozing his way through his final term?

Historically, the party that holds the presidency almost always loses ground during the midterms. Making it worse for Republicans, as Ron DeSantis recently warned, is that Trump voters tend to vote only when he is on the ballot. Which is why, in an appearance on “The Mom VIEW,” Wiles says that in 2026 Trump will “campaign like it’s 2024,” effectively putting him on the ballot.

Since gliding down that escalator in 2015, Trump has been a force unlike anything seen in American politics since Andrew Jackson. He is excellent at turning out low-propensity voters and winning elections, but his power doesn’t translate well to others.

Like Jackson, he has built his political success by standing for the people and railing against the establishment elite. For Jackson, it was a “corrupt bargain,” for Trump, it’s the “rigged system.” Both men are hammers, forceful tools, leading with emotion, thriving on creating division, and casting themselves as victims against a corrupt faction.

Jackson’s force was powerful, but it was architect Martin Van Buren who built the modern-day political party, a Democratic machine that gave Jackson the majority in Congress during his two terms.  If Trump wants to maintain his governing majority in the House, he will need to find an architect to guide him and pair him with other tools.

Political activist and Early Vote Action founder Scott Presler might be just that architect. The tool he wants Trump to strike with is early voting, saying that if Republicans don’t engage in early and mail-in voting, they will lose everything. A majority of voters now vote prior to Election Day. In 2024, “nearly 60% of voters cast their ballots early or by mail.”

Presler says, “If you are only planning to vote on election day … consider the elections gone. Game over, you’ve already lost.”

Even if Trump is on the ballot and hammers early voting, it still might not be enough to overcome the historical slide the party in power takes during the midterms – especially considering that the fragile faction of political influencers who helped lift Trump to victory in 2024 is now at each other’s throats.

Republicans can overcome this by rallying congressional candidates together to hit the right-wing podcast circuit with Trump. Podcasting is the next evolution in the presidential bully pulpit. Teddy used the papers, FDR used the radio, Kennedy used television, and Obama and Trump have used social media. Using the long-form podcasting platform will lift candidates’ national profile while energizing local support, helping them raise donations and energize voters to get to the ballot box.

Right now, the media is talking about the Epstein files, the stagnating economy, and Trump’s dismal approval rating, but as fictional ad man Don Draper says, “If you don’t like what they’re saying, change the conversation.” Trump has proven himself a master at wagging the dog’s tail, leading the media wherever he wants, forcing them to cover what he says at his rallies. He should echo the candidates’ statements and urge Republican voters to show up on Election Day.

Andrew Jackson was a stubborn man, but he did take the counsel of Martin Van Buren and, by doing so, empowered his agenda against the National Bank and implemented a rotation of office otherwise known as the “spoils system.” Like Jackson, Trump can be stubborn and hesitant to share his power. But he must decide who he wants to be. Does he want to be known for winning office in two non-consecutive terms with few achievements to show for it, or does he want to see his economic policy of protectionism and immigration plan fulfilled?

By leaning into his strength of campaigning and bringing in a grassroots architect like Presler, he can secure a majority for Republicans to protect his agenda in the final two years of his term. If he shares the stage and mic with congressional candidates, hammers home early voting, and uses his power to elect other Republicans in 2026, they just might keep their majority in the House.

Otherwise, the blue wave that began in November will continue through 2026.