After my last article I had another unpleasant (but necessary) topic to talk about. I took a break to fix dinner and decompress and found a much more enjoyable this to write about. It seems the late Charlie Kirk’s Turning Point USA tried to make a show of force in a not usually noticed (outside their state) election. Arizona voters didn’t take kindly to the massive effort and with their votes gave TPSUSA a thorough butt whipping!
The organization has had some issues in the wake of its founder Charlie Kirk getting shot and killed. His widow Erika wasted no time seizing control. Who after all was going to, despite her P.O.S. hubby’s own teachings about a woman’s place being in the home say “No” to the ‘grieving widow?’ It wasn’t long before some snark about her started up and some questioning some of her actions in the wake of her husband’s death. Then her effectiveness as the leader of what had become a significant organization that could mobilize a lot of voters. Their GOTV cred was solid with the higher ups in the GOP. It was something they had figured that not only could be relied upon but get better.
Now, as Alternet reports in a swingy state with a lot of active Republicans TPUSA face-planted after a huge effort to inject itself into a closely watched (in Arizona) election for control of the Salt River Project (SRP) Board. Doesn’t seem to us outsiders as all that big a deal but the SRB oversees the state’s largest public utility. The SRB is the decision maker when it comes to access and pricing for resources. It sets the economic structure of the state and some of its neighbors. But Newsweek reports Arizona House Democratic Leader Oscar De Los Santos saying the conservative activist group’s heavy involvement in the race mobilized opposition voters and gave his own party an unintended boost toward clean‑energy aligned candidates:
“TPUSA pumped an unprecedented amount of money into this election,” De Los Santos wrote on X. “Voters came out in droves against TPUSA. Turnout was more than 400 percent of 2024 turnout.”
Turning Point USA worked arm-in-arm with the brand of President Donald Trump, at least until TPUSA factions began opposing Trump’s invasion of Iran. But the two appear to still smell enough alike to make a vote against one a vote against both.
Since Kirk spent so much time on college campuses recruiting young people to conservatism and especially young white males it’s probably fair to say Iran might have been a factor. When talk of an invasion and even whispers of starting up the draft again a group who supported Trump in part based on his ‘no foreign wars’ lies was bound to have at least some impact. How much is debatable. And given the 400 percent increase in turnout for what’s usually a sleepy election suggests to me at least that a lot more was in play here than some privileged white dudes worried they wouldn’t be able to get a deferment from military service.
Part of what made what’s usually a ho-hum not that big a deal election was TPUSA deciding to flex some political muscles. A LOT of flexing in fact:
“Leadership elections for the Salt River Project are usually sleepy affairs, but this year’s races were unusually high-profile,” reported the Phoenix New Times. “That’s because Turning Point Action, the political arm of the Charlie Kirk-founded Turning Point USA, decided to flex its financial and organizational might in the battle to control the massive public utility, which serves 2 million customers throughout much of the East Valley. Turning Point spent gobs of money advertising for a pro-industry slate of candidates and even sent an army of employees and volunteers to harvest ballots — a legal practice in SRP elections — in hopes of fending off a progressive slate called the Clean Energy Team.”
Alternet’s article dryly quotes the Times saying “For all that effort, Turning Point’s toxic brand may have worked against it.” I had to smile at that one! As for the flexing of muscle it seems a case of a scrawny kid (the DOGE asshat who called himself Big Balls comes to mind) gluing on fake ones. Some kind of silicone prosthetics that look realistic. Then someone knocks them down and the whole getup comes unglued and falls off to expose the weakling. How bad did Charlie Kirk’s organization flop? To put it like Trump BIGLY’:
The Clean Energy Team flipped two seats on the 14-member district board, shifting control of the body to clean-energy-friendly board members more open to renewable energy investment and more skeptical of fossil fuels and data centers. But team also “gained several seats on the district’s 30-member advisory council,” said The Times. “In fact, in 13 head-to-head races for district leadership — including races for president and vice president — Clean Energy Team candidates won 11 of the matchups.”
Once again I want to point out that there are rumblings about Erika Kirk’s leadership, or it might be more accurate to say lack of leadership that this will make worse. Clearly top elected Republicans who know their Party is facing stiff headwinds already will look at this and say ‘oh sh*t!’ They need TPUSA to deliver in the GOTV effort this fall and clearly the organization isn’t the force they had been assuming it would be. Worse, it’s on the verge of an internal power struggle that could turn public and ugly and THAT would be a true disaster for Republicans.
I don’t see Erika Kirk going quietly into that good night. If she was going to do so she’d have already done it. I think it’s more than a little possible she’ll lop off some heads for this failure. Like Trump she will blame her own failure on others. That won’t go over well. However she’s gotten used to the money and perks of being in her husband’s old job and unlikely to settle for a nice pension from them and only get trotted out for moments when TPUSA wants to mournfully praise their lost “real leader” Charlie.
Keep an eye on this because it could turn into one hell of a food fight. One that will benefit Democratic candidates in countless races around the country.
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This cheered me up nicely. Thank you.