[ad_1]
Slain conservative influencer Charlie Kirk’s organization Turning Point USA wielded political influence in Wisconsin.
The group began as a youth-focused group active on college campuses and has since expanded its voter outreach operations, particularly in Wisconsin where Republicans have made gains on college campuses.
Kirk, who was shot and killed Sept. 10 during a campus event in Utah, has been present in Wisconsin during past campaign seasons in the battleground state. He and Donald Trump Jr. visited Oconomowoc in March to rally for Brad Schimel, a conservative state Supreme Court candidate who lost the race.
He also delivered remarks at the 2024 Republican National Convention held in Milwaukee and appeared at events for conservatives around the city during the week-long event.
Kirk visited the University of Wisconsin-Madison in September 2024 as the first stop on his “You’re Being Brainwashed” tour, according to the Daily Cardinal, a student newspaper at the university.
About 150 people attended that event, where Kirk debated with students on issues like abortion, gay marriage and affirmative action. No counter-protestors were present, according to the Badger Herald, another newspaper at the university.
In the 2024 presidential election, Kirk’s group established a broad get-out-the vote operation in Wisconsin, opening an office in Waukesha and training hundreds of “ballot chasers” to boost turnout of conservative but low-propensity voters.
Later, during the spring 2025 Wisconsin Supreme Court race, Republicans worried that a “turf war” for influence over party infrastructure and leadership between Turning Point and the Republican Party of Wisconsin.
More: Top Wisconsin Republicans urge easing of party divisions. ‘You’re not going to win being disunified’
In the wake of Kirk’s death, Wisconsin political figures on both sides of the political aisle called for prayers and condemned the act of political violence.
President Donald Trump shared on social media: “No one understood or had the Heart of the Youth in the United States of America better than Charlie. He was loved and admired by ALL, especially me, and now, he is no longer with us.”
This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: A look at Charlie Kirk, Turning Point USA’s influence in Wisconsin
[ad_2]