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Turning Point's finances keep growing

After Kirk's death, group looks to midterms, 2028

By: Laure Gersony
and Stephanie Murry"
Arizona Republic
USA Today Network

PHOENIX - Turning Point is still reeling from the assassination of its co-founder, Charlie Kirk, one year ago.
..... But the financial motor that built the Phoenix-based conservative group into a national powerhouse has kept on turning.
..... Turning Point is raising more political campaign money than ever before, and appears to be coasting on an outpouring of financial support after Kirk's death on September 10, 2025, records show.
..... The group's fundraising has outpaced even the blockbuster 2024 election cycle, when the organization became a core part of Republicans' swing-state campaign apparatus.
..... Turning Point PAC Incorporated, the group's federal campaign wing, raised $7 million that year with Kirk in charge. This year, [2026] with months to spare before the 2026 midterms, it has raised $9 million.
..... The groups nonprofit wing also reported a spike in revenues - $115 million for fiscal ear 2025 - about 30% more than the prior year. Tax filings for the latest fiscal year weren't yet public.
..... That's on top of a sizable 481 million endowment, as of June 2025.
..... Eric Chalmers, a Democratic political consultant based in Phoenix, argued the coming election year could be a test of the group's campaign work, even if their finances are still riding high. Many of the GOP nominees in Arizona's top statewide races are endorsed by Turning Point. Some have leaned heavily on the group's network and campaign apparatus.
..... "They own this slate," Chalmers said. "whatever the result is, it's theirs."
..... Kirk's death raised questions about the future of the organization he built. Turning Point's sprawling national network was buoyed by his relationships with Persistent Donald Trump, donors and legions of young neoconservatives who watched his live-streams or attended his in-person convention for right-wing youth.
..... Since Kirk's death, Turning Point's network has toyed with different political arenas and income streams. In April, [2026] the group waded into a usually sleepy Arizona utility election, shortly after one of the candidates involved made a six-figure donation to Turning Point. ahead of the November midterms, they have partnered with a political group funded in part by a gambling company to fund get-out-the-vote operation in swing states.

Personal gain from spending

..... Much of the group's campaign work has been routed through companies owned by Arizona state Senator Jake Hoffman, a former Turning Point spokesperson, an unusual arrangement for a public official that analysts say raises conflict-of-interest questions.
..... One of Hoffman's ran a $350,000 campaign to support the Turning Point-backed gubernatorial candidate, Representative Andy Bigs.
..... Some of Hoffman's biggest windfalls have come from Turning Point's political expenses at the federal and state level. the group's super PAC and its state-level counterpart have paid Hoffman's firms more an half a million dollars for services like text messaging, digital ads and advertising campaigns since the beginning of 2025.
..... Hoffman defended his work in a lengthy statement to The Arizona Republic, ;art of the USA Today Network, say8ing he is prod of his team and that those revenues translate into concrete election services such as media placements, printing and advertising.
..... Turning Point spokesperson Andrew Kovet said the organization is still growing. He's "incredibly proud" of how his team has navigated the last 12 months.
..... "They've hunkered down and ... just thrown themselves into the work of fighting for Turning Point to make sure we didn't squander any of he momentum and just the outpouring of love that came after Charlie was killed," Kolvet said.
..... "This is a team that wasn't afforded the opportunity to grieve, and they had to keep moving forward."
..... The organization put some of those resources into additional staff. Turning Point was hiring nationwide for nearly 450 jobs ahead of the midterms, according to an analysis by The Republic.
..... Turning Point said in a memo provided to The Republic that it has more than 1,200 employees across its organization.
..... The group's federal campaign wing also has seen an uptick in grassroots donations of less than $200. Those totals rose from about $1.2 million in 2024, up to $3.2 million so far in2026.
..... Turning Point's campaign footprint has continued to spill across state lines. the group's political wing has spent money supporting candidates aligned with Trump all over the country this year, [2026] such as Rob Adkerson in Georgia and Michale Alfonso in Wisconsin.
..... as in past years, many of the group's top donors are not public. the tax-exempt status of the group's political wing, Turning Point Action, has allowed it to skirt fundraising disclosures by arguing the money it had received was meant for social welfare purposes, even if it was ultimately spent supporting Republican candidates and causes.

Player in both 2026 and 2028

..... As they built up their operations for the 2026 cycle, Turning Point's leaders are already looking ahead to the next presidential race in two years.
..... Kolvet said the group is putting "significant" financial and staffing resources into the 2026 election and is "light-years ahead" of where they were in 2024. The group is focusing on three states - Arizona, Nevada and New Hampshire - plus a handful of races elsewhere, such as Wisconsin and Iowa, Kovet said.
..... He declined to share more about the numbers or staff, it's proprietary.
..... Turning Point already set down its maker for the 2028 presidential race. Erika Kirk - charlie Kirk's widow, who now leads the organizing - endorsed Vice President JD Vance last fall, [2025] three years before Election Day, and the group ins openly positioning themselves to be a or part of Republican's campaign apparatus.
.... "We're investing in states, and not just in races," Erika Kirk told supporters at the organization's AmericaFest conference in Phoenix in December. [2025]

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