One year later, Turning Point looks to continue Charlie Kirk's work
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Charlie Kirk speaks at a campaign rally for Donald Trump at Desert Diamond Arena in August 2024. Photo: Rebecca Noble/Getty Images
A year after conservative activist Charlie Kirk's assassination, his organization, Turning Point, strives to continue his work and carry on his legacy.
The big picture: Kirk built Turning Point, which is headquartered in Phoenix, into a major political force on the conservative right — but it was unclear what the future would bring after his murder.
Flashback: A rooftop gunman fatally shot Kirk on Sept. 10, 2025, while he spoke at a Turning Point campus event at Utah Valley University. The suspect is being tried on aggravated murder and other charges in Utah.
What they're saying: "There's a lot to be proud of and I think Charlie would be proud of, with Turning Point becoming synonymous with conservative political activism," Tyler Bowyer, COO of Turning Point Action, the organization's political arm, tells Axios.
- As a leader, Kirk was irreplaceable, Bowyer says, pointing to his intellect, wit, vision and communication skills.
- But the infrastructure Kirk created was built to last, and "the things that you build and leave behind are the things that you can continue."
Zoom in: Over the past year, Turning Point Action has opened offices in Las Vegas and Manchester, New Hampshire, and engaged in campaigns across the country.
- Turning Point USA, the campus conservative group that Kirk co-founded in 2012, has grown substantially and is on a trajectory to have chapters in about two-thirds of American high schools, Bowyer says.
- And Turning Point USA and its political action committee have had record fundraising over the past year, the Arizona Republic reported.
For now, Turning Point is focused on the midterm elections. Though Democrats seem poised to notch big wins, Bowyer says he's "not as down on the midterm elections whatsoever."
- Turning Point's job is to turn out low-propensity Republican voters who might not otherwise cast ballots, he says.
- But everything the organization does is building groundwork for 2028. Bowyer says he expects Vice President Vance to run for president and for Turning Point Action to aid his campaign.
- "I think we have a special place over the course of the next four to eight years where we've got to show up, inject as much muscle and energy and enthusiasm into the Republican Party as we humanly can," Bowyer says.
State of play: Turning Point is hosting a large remembrance event at Utah Valley University on Thursday, and others will hold their own events across Arizona and the U.S., Bowyer says.
- But at Turning Point's Phoenix headquarters, the grieving and remembrance will be private.
- Turning Point has put in a lot of work over the past year, but that hasn't always given people an opportunity to grieve Kirk's death, Bowyer says.
- "That's where I think this week comes in so hard," he says. "It's a pause moment where I think you feel it."
And Bowyer praised the "tremendous" job Erika Kirk has done continuing her husband's legacy as the head of TPUSA.
- "I can't even start to put the words together to do justice to how she feels."
The bottom line: "Now it's our time to produce the same way that we did year over year with Charlie on this earth. We need to live up to his name by producing year over year with him in heaven," Bowyer says.