Winning Elections – The 2026 Blueprint

Winning elections involves good messaging, candidate quality, and the right issues, but turnout is key. So, what happened in 2025? Something very interesting, pointing to a GOP blueprint for winning.

How did New York City, with one million Jews, elect an antisemitic, communist to be their next mayor? How did Virginia, which previously elected a Republican governor, get a Democrat? How did Maine, with strong support for voter ID and pro-gun rights, lose voter ID and get a red flag law?

The answers are critical, truly important. They affect the future and will define the 2026 election.

First, Democrats pushed early and absentee voting; Republicans did not. That was an unforced error, the GOP’s preference for Election Day. The GOP needs to dramatically raise early and absentee turnout, always low in non-presidential years. Democrats outflanked Republicans on early and absentee turnout. In Maine, double the number of Democrats voted absentee. That is a tactic.

Second, Democrats pushed socialism in answer to the affordability crisis. On social media, they targeted the young, a third favoring socialism. Republicans need to explain socialism’s failures, communism’s immorality, and reteach the American Dream, the power of tax cuts, and growth.

Third, Democrats target, cultivate, and then swamp “senior residential living” centers, anecdotal evidence suggesting a role in how captive seniors vote. Nearly 20 percent of New York City is over 65, three million Virginians are, and in Maine, 313,000 seniors – a quarter of the state – live in assisted living centers, a perfect target for advanced planning and undue Democrat influence.

Fourth, Democrats – have you noticed? – also cultivate illegal votes. They are methodical, relentless, insidious, and consistent in finding dead people, illegal aliens, and non-cognizant senior voters. Why is that? It is a strategy. Without aggressive GOP policing for voter fraud, we all lose.

Finally, Democrats push the narrative that they are better organized, have dark money, and will win. They tried that in 1994 with Gingrich. He pushed back. We won 52 House seats. When Democrats suggest they have a lock and grassroots opposition is futile, the GOP needs to say, “Not this time!”

Yes, in places like Maine, Democrats push novel illegalities – hiding voter rolls, losing ballots, confusing referendum questions, defying Justice, permitting Medicaid non-profits (who give checks) to register voters, using state money to buy media, underwriting free stuff for illegals, and generally abusing state power – but that is also why they will lose. The GOP must say “Enough!”

To turn a blue state red, restore integrity to an unethical government – one normalizing public corruption – is always a challenge, but it is entirely doable, and sometimes it must be done.

Needed are antidotes, plans for pushing GOP voter turnout way up, taking it from under 50 percent to 70 percent. That is done by aggressively cultivating early and absentee voting, not shying from it.

That is done with powerful, cogent communications – with the young and old – on affordability, explaining socialism fails, that less government, lower spending, cutting taxes, triggers growth, allows calm. Homeownership, lower state spending, and property tax exemptions are within reach.

Lower property, income, and sales taxes, with less regulation of business and individuals, create a cascade, more disposable income and consumer spending, business hiring, investment, growth, and then repeat cycles. The American Dream exists – we just have to create conditions for it.

To that, the GOP must add early outreach to seniors, especially in assisted living in states like New York, Virginia, and Maine, the last with the oldest population in America.

Seniors want predictability, contentment, not higher property taxes. They want good, accessible, affordable health care, not higher costs, hospitals closing, long lines, poor, unreachable, unaffordable care, rising premiums, deductibles, copays, and no accountability.

They want high-integrity Medicaid, not illegals tipping the balance, getting free healthcare at their expense, raising rates, lengthening lines, lowering quality, fewer hospitals, and more fraud.

In the run-up to election 2026, the GOP needs to police the vote, stop the illegalities early, demand access to the voter rolls, call in Justice, U.S. Marshals, federal attorneys to deter voter fraud, investigate ahead, and verify the votes. If state officials are untrustworthy, make them accountable. Finally, the Democrats’ “you cannot win” narrative is bull. It needs to be flipped, with grassroots outrage across blue states – at Democrats trampling parents’ rights, hurting kids, drug trafficking, unaffordability…to get voters out, flipping these states red. That is the blueprint. Time to build.

Robert Charles is a former Assistant Secretary of State under Colin Powell, former Reagan and Bush 41 White House staffer, Maine attorney, ten-year naval intelligence officer (USNR), and 25-year businessman. He wrote “Narcotics and Terrorism” (2003), “Eagles and Evergreens” (North Country Press, 2018), and “Cherish America: Stories of Courage, Character, and Kindness” (Tower Publishing, 2024). He is the National Spokesman for AMAC. Today, he is running to be Maine’s next Governor (please visit BobbyforMaine.com to learn more)!