Turning Point USA says it has more than 1 million students involved in its programs a year after Charlie Kirk was killed.
The Phoenix-based conservative network said it is still growing after its co-founder was shot and killed at a Turning Point USA event last fall.
Kirk co-founded Turning Point in 2012 as a nonprofit aimed at introducing college students to conservative ideas. Over the next 14 years, the brand grew into a powerhouse network of conservative groups and political PACs with footholds in churches, high schools and colleges across the country.
Turning Point expanded its programs and raised millions after Kirk was shot and killed on the Utah Valley University campus on Sept. 10, 2025. His widow, Erika Kirk, took the helm of her late
husband’s organization.
“Everything that we can control from the organization standpoint, whether that's our social media, our chapters, ballot chasing over at Turning Point Action, fundraising, organizing events, tours,” Turning Point spokesperson Andrew Kolvet said. “Everything's growing. It's still growing.”
Turning Point has more than 1,200 employees across its organizations, an increase according to nonprofit tax filings. The group added thousands of new chapters on high school and college campuses during the 2025-2026 school year, according to a memo from the organization.
Turning Point’s “Club America” has some 3,500 high school chapters, nearly triple the number of chapters it had before Kirk was killed. States including Texas, Oklahoma, Tennessee, Florida, Arkansas, Indiana and Montana have officially partnered with Turning Point USA to establish high school chapters in their schools.
College campus chapters are also up, Turning Point said. The group has 1,500 college campus chapters, a 64% increase according to the document.
Along with growth, the conservative group has faced significant challenges, including a staff “purge” at the beginning of the year and a Republican Party that has fractured without Kirk as a MAGA standard-bearer.
The group has struggled to find its voice without Kirk, a leading conservative figure, a successful fundraiser and a political operative. The group is still powerful in Republican primaries, but Arizona voters have shown a willingness to reject Turning Point at the ballot box this year.
That’s led some Arizona political watchers to believe Turning Point’s influence is waning.
“Turning Point is, in the fall of 2026, not the same organization it was in August 2025,” said Doug Cole, chief operating officer of the public affairs firm HighGround.
Cole pointed to Turning Point leaders fighting with other Arizona Republicans ahead of the state's July 21 primary. He said the conservative organization lacks the discipline required to run a campaign, especially in a political climate that is unfavorable to the GOP.
For example, Turning Point Action's chief operating officer refused to apologize for asking a Vietnamese state lawmaker if he could speak English during a social media spat over inconsistencies in Turning Point’s endorsement scorecard system.
Kolvet acknowledged the political headwinds that his group faces but said Turning Point is still growing.
“If people were to say that they slowed down, I don't see that. It still remains to be seen,” said Brandon Tatum, a Scottsdale influencer and Turning Point contributor.
Tatum said he’s watching to see what the next chapter of Turning Point will look like this fall. A popular YouTube personality, he is set to appear at Turning Point’s Grand Canyon University college campus tour stop with Erika Kirk on Oct. 1.
Tatum said he was sad to see Kirk’s legacy tainted by conspiracy theories surrounding his death by right-wing podcasters such as Candace Owens, who Tatum disagrees with but considers a longtime friend.
“Now that it's a year later, now that activists and others have pretty much made his legacy into a mockery, in part, I'm waiting to see what these next few universities are going to be,” Tatum said in an interview at his Scottsdale office. “I don't anticipate that they would go down because the mission is still out there.”
Attendance at Turning Point’s Chapter Leadership Summit doubled compared to 2024, the group said. More than two-thirds of the students who attended became involved with Turning Point after Kirk's assassination, according to Turning Point.
“These numbers reflect a generation of young people responding to Charlie’s death by choosing to participate, organize, lead, and continue the work he began,” Turning Point said in the memo.
Turning Point did not say how much money it has raised, but noted it received cash from more than 1 million donors last year. A majority, more than 95%, gave under $1,000, according to the group.
“The support is there financially,” Tatum said. “When Charlie died, people poured out a tremendous amount of support. Right after his death, all the Turning Point events were doing really well. They were packed. Some of that could have been the acceleration of, you know, emotional response to Charlie's death and support.”
As Kirk became more outspoken about his Christian views in recent years, Turning Point USA built its Turning Point Faith program. The group trained nearly 10,000 pastors on how to “eradicate wokeism from the church” as part of a $10.6 million program in fiscal 2024, it said on a tax filing.
Now, there are more than 12,000 churches and pastors in the Turning Point Faith network, according to the group.
Stephanie Murray covers national politics and the Trump administration for The Arizona Republic and azcentral.com. She co-hosts “The Gaggle,” The Republic’s weekly politics podcast. Reach her at stephanie.murray@usatodayco.com, on X and TikTok @stephanie_murr and on Instagram @stephaniemurray.news.
This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: How Turning Point has changed since Charlie Kirk's death | Exclusive
