PHOENIX — Nearly a year has passed since Charlie Kirk was shot and killed while debating politics on a Utah college campus, an assassination that sent shock waves through the conservative movement. At Turning Point USA’s Phoenix headquarters, the organization he built into a national youth powerhouse is pushing forward with an eye on the next presidential election.
Turning Point’s leadership acknowledges that this fall’s midterm campaign will be difficult. Republicans are bracing for losses, and one major reason is the erosion of support among young voters who helped deliver the White House in 2024. But in interviews and strategy sessions, the group’s remaining leaders say their long-term objective is clear: play a decisive role in making Vice President JD Vance the Republican nominee and president in 2028.
“There is no doubt that we lost ground with the youth vote. Charlie saw it coming. Charlie was frustrated,” said Andrew Kolvet, Kirk’s friend, spokesman and right-hand man. He cited the administration’s handling of documents related to Jeffrey Epstein, among other issues. Kirk also believed the war with Iran would be a hard sell for Gen Z, Kolvet said. Polling supports that concern: only 16 percent of Americans under 30 and 18 percent of those 30 to 44 believe the Iran decision was right, according to a recent YouGov/Economist poll. Among those 45 to 64, the figure is 29 percent; among those 65 and older, it is 36 percent.
The gains Republicans made with young voters in 2024 have largely melted away. That was always a risk in the midterm cycle, but it may be worse now because young conservatives have lost their most charismatic messenger. Kirk’s name and face remain everywhere inside Turning Point’s office: timeline decals trace his life from his 1993 birth in Illinois, through the founding of Turning Point in 2012, his speech at the Republican National Convention in 2016, the launch of his radio show in 2020, his marriage to Erika Kirk, and the birth of two children. One 2024 marker reads: “Crucial to Donald J. Trump’s re-election.”
Inside the organization, the mood is described as a nightmare. Tyler Bowyer, chief operating officer of Turning Point Action and a friend of Kirk for more than a decade, said the two men used to talk hourly. Now he wakes up each day and has to tell himself that the loss is real. Andrew Sypher, chief field officer of Turning Point USA, admitted that this spring felt overwhelming, with conservative infighting, conspiracy theories, and attacks on the organization. At one point, he said, the group considered quitting. Instead, by late spring and early summer, the team resolved to continue.
Turning Point remains in solid financial shape, according to people inside and outside the organization. Donations surged after Kirk’s death. The daily podcast “The Charlie Kirk Show” has continued in his absence and has retained much of its audience. New high school and college chapters grew by 168 percent and 64 percent respectively during the past school year. The group is still producing content, meeting with donors, shipping merchandise, and preparing a one-year memorial vigil.
Kirk’s widow, Erika Kirk, was named CEO after his death. Last week she joined strategy discussions alongside Kolvet, Bowyer, Sypher and others. The team is also training a new class of “ballot chasers,” the field workers deployed in swing states, and it is preparing for another fall campus tour featuring Republican figures and conservative influencers such as Donald Trump Jr., Tulsi Gabbard and Ben Shapiro.
Kolvet conceded that no one can replace Kirk. “You can’t snap your fingers and create a new Charlie Kirk, because it’s never going to happen.” What keeps the team going, he said, is the desire to prove to would-be killers that violence cannot stop a movement. “The best way that you fight the assassin’s veto is you prove — and in this case it has to be over time — that a single act will be outweighed by an outpouring of new voices.”
Vance is the closest thing to a current substitute for Kirk, say Turning Point leaders. The vice president has a broad platform, an interest in debating young voters, and a personal relationship with Kirk. Kolvet describes Vance as a “generational bridge” who has signaled a desire to speak directly to Kirk’s fans. Kirk endorsed Vance early in the 2022 Senate primary, when Vance was still trailing in polls, and later urged Trump to pick Vance as his running mate. Top Turning Point officials remain in regular contact with Vance.
Kirk and Bowyer began drafting a plan the day after Trump won in 2024. They wanted to build a new “red wall” while Democrats focused on the Upper Midwest and Mid-Atlantic. Kirk identified Arizona, Nevada and New Hampshire as priority states. New Hampshire would also be useful because it is an early Republican primary state, allowing Turning Point to support Vance in 2028. The group has already launched an Iowa operation, beginning recruitment at the Iowa State Fair in every one of the state’s 99 counties.
Erika Kirk endorsed Vance at Turning Point’s year-end conference in December, though Vance has not said whether he will run. Bowyer said that if Vance does run, Turning Point will hold an early-state rally “in Charlie’s honor” to announce its endorsement.
Not everything has gone as planned. Conspiracy theories have spread online, sometimes pushed by former allies, including Candace Owens, who worked for Turning Point in its early days. The organization also faced donor pressure last summer. According to people familiar with the matter, some significant donors threatened to withhold millions of dollars if Turning Point let Tucker Carlson speak at its year-end conference. Kirk went ahead, advertising Carlson as a featured speaker. Vance has declined to disavow Carlson, even as some traditional Republicans claim that will hurt his 2028 prospects.
Still, Kirk’s allies say he would not have played “disavowal games.” Kolvet said Kirk likely would have worked quietly behind the scenes to find a path between factions, rather than publicly cut off a major figure. “I don’t like ascribing godlike qualities to Charlie,” he said. “He was a man after all.”
Before his death, Kirk had also tried to shape Trump policy on the Middle East. He was part of an effort by war-skeptical conservative leaders to dissuade Trump from authorizing the June 2025 strikes on Iran’s nuclear facilities. Kirk spent days in Washington, at times working out of the White House, trying to make sure Trump heard from doubters. In his final weeks, he continued to defend Israel while warning against an expanded conflict.
Kirk had predicted that young voters would shift toward progressive populists if Republicans ignored affordability. In a July 2025 interview, he said young people were burdened by student debt, sports-gambling debt, credit card debt and medical debt. “We have a serious problem. This is going to be on us. We have to deliver a better economy, materially, for them.” He specifically mentioned Zohran Mamdani, now the Democratic mayor of New York, as a politician likely to attract disillusioned young voters. Neff noted that, in the weeks before his death, Kirk had proposed a 10-million-home affordable housing project that the administration did not adopt.
Blake Neff, producer of “The Charlie Kirk Show,” appears on the program with Kolvet most days. He said Kirk might have kept Trump’s numbers among young men a point or two higher. “It’s very clear Charlie played a major role in the surge in 2024,” Neff said. He added that Kirk knew midterm losses would be tough regardless.
This week, top Turning Point officials will not attend Trump’s midterm convention, which overlaps with the anniversary of the killing and memorial events. A memorial event will be held at Utah Valley University. Kirk’s inner circle will stay in Phoenix to gather with supporters outside the organization’s headquarters.
Last week, Kolvet; Erika Kirk; and Kirk’s parents were in a Utah courtroom when Tyler Robinson, the 23-year-old accused of the assassination, was deemed fit to stand trial. Robinson faces the death penalty. Kolvet said he expected to feel rage during the hearing, but instead saw Robinson as a small and insignificant figure. “He’s just another lost boy that we’re trying to reach,” Kolvet said, using a phrase Kirk applied to the 20-something men he hoped to inspire.
Kolvet and Neff acknowledged the road ahead. “Politics is frustrating, and it’s a grind, and it’s slow, and it was going to be like that no matter what,” Neff said. “But it was more bearable with Charlie. You did get more wins with Charlie, I think.”
Source:MSN News