{"id":8532,"date":"2026-09-10T09:37:44","date_gmt":"2026-09-10T09:37:44","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/metrotransitreview.com\/?p=8532"},"modified":"2026-09-10T09:37:44","modified_gmt":"2026-09-10T09:37:44","slug":"charlie-kirks-murder-left-a-void-that-will-100-cost-republicans-in-the-midterms-pals-say-despite-hard-work-after-his-death","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/metrotransitreview.com\/?p=8532","title":{"rendered":"Charlie Kirk\u2019s murder left a void that will \u2018100%\u2019 cost Republicans in the midterms, pals say \u2014 despite hard work after his death"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

The grassroots army built by Charlie Kirk has seen unprecedented growth in the year since the Turning Point USA founder\u2019s murder, but his death could still prove costly to Republicans in the Midterms, who are bereft of his drive, intellect and energy, pals told The Post.<\/p>\n

Read more A.J. Brown exits first game with Patriots in injury nightmare<\/a><\/p>\n

Conservative grassroots and youth movement leaders candidly acknowledge their cause is marching against \u201cheadwinds\u201d that have been difficult to navigate since Kirk\u2019s shocking Sept. 10, 2025, assassination, which left operational and intellectual voids that have been a challenge to fill despite the surge in interest in Turning Point USA and conservative political activism over the last year.<\/p>\n

\u201cEverything within Turning Point, all the different programs, the verticals, everything\u2019s growing \u2026 it\u2019s kind of bursting at the seams,\u201d Andrew Kolvet, a close friend of Kirk\u2019s who serves as a spokesman for the conservative activist group, told The Post.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhether you look at our field programs, our social media, our media productions, our church partnerships, Turning Point Action [the group\u2019s political advocacy arm], we have more ballot chasers,\u201d he continued.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re light years ahead of where we were in 2024, just as far as get out the vote efforts.\u201d<\/p>\n

Kolvet touted \u201cover a million students are now a part of Turning Point in one way, shape, or form.\u201d<\/p>\n

A 180% increase in high school clubs, 64% growth in college chapters and more than double the attendance at Turning Point\u2019s 2026 Chapter Leadership Summit compared to 2024, with two-thirds of attendees having become involved only after Kirk\u2019s death, according to an internal document.<\/p>\n

The organization Kirk founded as an 18 year old in 2012 now has over 1 million donors and more than 1,200 employees, per the document.<\/p>\n

\u201cUp and down the list, everything\u2019s growing,\u201d Kolvet said, \u201cwhich is remarkable, and it\u2019s a testament to Charlie\u2019s legacy and how much he inspired people.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s also a testament to the team that Charlie built, and that is still in place,\u201d he added. \u201cThe core team is all still in place \u2026 everybody\u2019s just been working their fingers to the bone trying to make sure we don\u2019t squander any of this momentum that Charlie gave his life for.\u201d<\/p>\n

In March, Turning Point set up shop in Las Vegas, opening a regional headquarters in Nevada.<\/p>\n

Nevada is one of several states, including Pennsylvania, New Hampshire, North Carolina, Georgia, Michigan and Iowa, where the group is looking to replicate the success it had at getting out the vote for President Trump in Arizona and Wisconsin in 2024 \u2014 both of which he won after losing them in 2020.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re all in on Charlie\u2019s mission,\u201d Cliff Maloney, the head of voter contact group Citizens Alliance and a friend of Kirk\u2019s, told The Post. \u201cMy favorite quote that I always go to is, \u2018Do the work.\u201d<\/p>\n

Read more Trump alone can\u2019t save the GOP from a midterm disaster<\/a><\/p>\n

But, Maloney lamented that Republicans have lost their \u201cmain driver\u201d in Kirk.<\/p>\n

\u201cCharlie\u2019s loss created a lot of missteps for Republicans,\u201d he continued, \u201cbecause I feel like he used to drive so much of the narrative and so many things that he kind of saw as imperative \u2026 there\u2019s just not there\u2019s not a main driver anymore, and that\u2019s what Charlie was.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe was a main driver of Republican thought, Republican action, and when you combine those two, it turns into \u2013 what is the Republican message? What are the Republican policies?\u201d<\/p>\n

Maloney argued that while it is clear \u201cwe are at a disadvantage\u201d without Kirk, \u201cthat\u2019s no reason to be disheartened: It\u2019s time to double down and do the work.\u201d<\/p>\n

When asked if Kirk\u2019s assassination when ask might cost Republicans some wins in the midterms despite his best efforts, Maloney responded, \u201c100%.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n<\/div>\n

\u201cEverything that we can control is growing,\u201d Kolvet said, \u201cbut that doesn\u2019t mean that we\u2019re not aware of the fact that we exist within an ecosystem where you know a lot of young people are feeling disenchanted by politics in general and conservative politics.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Turning Point spokesman noted that the war in Iran and the Trump administration\u2019s rollout of the Jeffrey Epstein files were not particularly well received on college campuses.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is a generation that\u2019s faced a lot of structural challenges,\u201d Kolvet said, pointing to the COVID-19 pandemic, inflation during the Biden administration, the 2008 financial crisis, soaring housing prices and artificial intelligence.<\/p>\n

\u201cSo, it\u2019s easy to feel disenchanted with politics, or \u2013 the worst option \u2013 become radicalized by free-stuff populism, which is just socialism,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

The Turning Point spokesman was careful not to put words in Kirk\u2019s mouth, but said he thought the slain activist would be \u201cfrustrated\u201d with the current state of the conservative political landscape.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think he would be frustrated by the infighting. He\u2019d be frustrated by the fact that we put so much work into winning young voters in 2024, to see some of the steps back that we\u2019ve taken,\u201d Kolvet said.<\/p>\n

He added: \u201cHe would be working his tail off to kind of bring people back to understanding that we have to be focused on fighting for the country, not fighting each other, and fighting to win in the midterms.\u201d<\/p>\n

Read more Anthropic researcher Jacob Coxon who quit AI role over fears of racing into extinction says people are \u2018begging\u2019 for regulation<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The grassroots army built by Charlie Kirk has experienced unprecedented growth in the year since the Turning Point USA founder\u2019s murder, but the additional boots on the ground may not be enough to push some Republicans across the finish line in the midterm elections.\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":8531,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-8532","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-politics"],"yoast_head":"\nCharlie Kirk\u2019s murder left a void that will \u2018100%\u2019 cost Republicans in the midterms, pals say \u2014 despite hard work after his death - Metro Transit Review<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/metrotransitreview.com\/?p=8532\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Charlie Kirk\u2019s murder left a void that will \u2018100%\u2019 cost Republicans in the midterms, pals say \u2014 despite hard work after his death - 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