On the Ballot: One year after Charlie Kirk’s assassination, Turning Point USA presses on

Turning Point USA (TPUSA) is navigating its first election cycle without its founder.

Thursday marks one year since Charlie Kirk was assassinated at a Utah university during one of his “Prove Me Wrong” debates. His wife, Erika Kirk , took the reins of conservative nonprofit after his death, charting its course as the leading youth organization in Republican politics.

TPUSA says it has only grown since Kirk’s death, yet Republicans acknowledge Charlie Kirk’s death has left a void few in the party can fill.

“He wanted people who felt lost to know the everlasting hope he found through faith and the sense of meaning and purpose that can fill the deeper longings we so often try to satisfy elsewhere,” Erika Kirk wrote in an op-ed for The New York Times published on Monday.

“To the world, he was Charlie Kirk,” she wrote. “But to me, he was the love of my life. To our children, he was the center of their world.”

Turning Point USA is convening in Orem, Utah at Utah Valley University on Thursday to commemorate the one-year anniversary of Charlie Kirk’s death, after a gunman fatally shot the conservative activist at the school during his “The American Comeback Tour.”

Thursday’s event, called “Freedom Built to Last,” will include guest appearances from figures like conservative commentator Glenn Beck, Christian apologist and Charlie Kirk mentor Frank Turek, among others.

Republicans are also planning to honor Charlie Kirk on Thursday evening, during the second day of their midterm convention in Dallas, which looks to touch on the TPUSA founder’s “impact on American youth and converting that legacy into a call to mobilize voters.”

Started in 2012, TPUSA is regarded as one of the most dominant youth-focused conservative organizations in the country, with its founder making a name for himself as he traveled to college campuses to debate students and push back against liberal talking points.

But the political nonprofit morphed into a serious power player in recent election cycles as a part of Republicans’ voter outreach infrastructure, so much so that President Trump and Vice President Vance have credited Kirk and his organization for their electoral victories.

“I want to express my tremendous gratitude to Charlie Kirk,” Trump said at a TPUSA event in December 2024, describing Kirk as “an amazing guy.”

“And his whole staff for their relentless efforts to achieve this very historic victory. It’s such a great honor,” he added. “It’s not my victory. It’s your victory.”

Guest-hosting a special episode of “The Charlie Kirk Show” just days after the conservative activist was murdered, Vance remarked that “if it weren’t for Charlie Kirk, I would not be the Vice President of the United States.”

The Hill reached out to several TPUSA officials for comment.

The conservative nonprofit has grown over the last year. TPUSA saw a 64 percent increase within the last year in the number of college chapters operating across the country, CNN reported , citing an internal document it obtained. The news outlet noted that the organization has seen three times as many high school clubs.

The influential youth-based political group is also still raking in cash, with the nonprofit seeing a 30-percent revenue increase during fiscal 2025 compared to the year prior, according to the Arizona Republic . Turning Point PAC, meanwhile, has also outraised itself by several million dollars in recent years, the Arizona news outlet noted.

And TPUSA has made it clear that the organization will be a key player in the 2028 Republican presidential primary. Erika Kirk preemptively endorsed Vance in December for the Republican contest, even though the vice president has not formally declared a bid.

Vance has sidestepped questions around a possible White House bid, emphasizing he’s focused on the midterms. Yet there’s early indicators of a political infrastructure forming behind the scenes.

“We are going to get my husband’s friend, JD Vance, elected for 48 in the most resounding way possible,” Erika Kirk said during Turning Point USA’s AmericaFest conference in Phoenix.

Welcome to The Hill’s On The Ballot. We’re Julia Mueller and Caroline Vakil — reach out to us on X ( @jmthewriter + @CarolineVakil) or via email ( jmueller@thehill.com + cvakil@thehill.com.)

Ford neck-and-neck with Lombardo in toss-up Nevada governor’s race: Poll

Nevada Gov. Joe Lombardo (R) and state Attorney General Aaron Ford (D) are neck-in-neck in the state’s gubernatorial race, according to new polling released on Thursday.

The Democratic candidate led the incumbent Republican governor by a slim 2-percentage-point margin in the latest Emerson College Polling and KLAS-TV survey.

Ford had a 31-percentage-point advantage over Lombardo among Hispanic voters and an 11-point lead among women. The Republican governor led the Democrat by 13 percentage points among white voters and 6 points among men.

President Trump’s massive campaign war chest is looming over the GOP’s midterm convention in Dallas this week as Republicans grow frustrated with how his political operation has spent in races this cycle. The Hill’s Julia Manchester reports.

A showdown over Missouri’s congressional map has taken several turns this week, as competing court rulings leave lingering questions about which district boundaries should be used for the midterms. Read more from The Hill’s Sophie Brams and Zach Schonfeld.

Democratic donors who were once turned off by the state of the Democratic Party are beginning to write checks again, spurred by the potential of a huge wave of losses in November’s midterm elections, The Hill’s Amie Parnes reports.

As the midterm cycle heats up, we’re asking folks in the elections space what they’re consuming on and off the campaign trail.

Rep. Chris Pappas is the Democratic nominee for Senate in New Hampshire. His family owns the Puritan Backroom Restaurant in Manchester, N.H., which claims to have invented chicken tenders.

“1929: Inside the Crash” by Andrew Ross Sorkin.

What album or podcast do you have on repeat?

Podcasts: “The Daily,” “The Bulwark” or “Acquired.”

What TV show are you watching right now?

What’s your go-to restaurant in your state?

Primary season draws to a close in Delaware

The 2026 primary cycle is coming to a close in the First State on Tuesday.

Sen. Chris Coons (D) is on track to easily clinch the Democratic nomination, but he must first defeat his colleague Democratic Sen. Lisa Blunt Rochester’s former Republican rival in the Democratic primary. Eric Hansen , the GOP’s Senate nominee for 2024, is running as a Democrat this time around.

Hansen lost to Blunt Rochester by about 17 percentage points in 2024, notching nearly 40 percent of the vote. Hansen legally changed his name to “ E. No-Trump Hansen ” and that is how his name will appear on the ballot Tuesday.

On the other side of the aisle, Michael Katz , a former Democratic state senator and independent candidate for Senate in 2024, and veteran J ohn Shulli are facing off for the GOP nod in the solid blue state.

Sept. 10: Republican National Convention hosts midterms convention in Dallas. President Trump and Vice President Vance are both set to speak Thursday.

Sept. 15: Delaware hosts primary elections

Sept. 16: Michigan gubernatorial candidates — Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson (D) and Rep. John James (R) — speak at Detroit Economic Club meeting

Have conservatives taken sexy back? ( The New Yorker )

Cuellar and Tijerina spar over who delivers for a South Texas district redrawn to favor the GOP ( The Texas Tribune )

Voters have a message for Democrats ( The Atlantic )

I’m Bobby Charles’ sister. I’m voting for Hannah Pingree. ( Portland Press Herald )