Charlie Kirk Is All Over Gop Campaign Ads

Donald Trump’s endorsement remains the most valuable asset in GOP primaries. But after the president, it’s Charlie Kirk, the conservative activist and Turning Point USA leader who was killed on a Utah college campus last September.

Candidates across the country, from Kentucky to Iowa to Arizona, are promoting their endorsements from Kirk’s organization, hoping to use it to appeal to the swath of young, mostly male, voters that he influenced and brought to the Republican Party in recent years.

And the nod is doubly valuable if candidates can claim they earned Kirk’s direct endorsement before his death.

“These people are the final endorsements that Charlie Kirk gave out, so they are impactful and cannot be replicated,” said Barrett Marson, an Arizona-based GOP strategist. “It's a commodity that is no longer available to anyone. So, it is special to have that endorsement, because it is the last time, you know, anyone can get it.”

Several candidates have put ads on the air and on social media in the wake of Kirk's death leaning into the fact that he endorsed them.

“He's the last U.S. Senate candidate Charlie Kirk ever endorsed,” says one recent ad from Kentucky Republican Senate candidate Nate Morris, before a clip of Kirk’s endorsement plays. In another ad, Morris uses Kirk’s endorsement to label himself “the real Trump candidate” in the race.

Morris has also put more than $1 million into digital ads touting Kirk’s support, something Trump pollster Tony Fabrizio (who is also polling for Morris) wrote was boosting his odds over former Attorney General Daniel Cameron and Rep. Andy Barr (R-Ky.).

Shortly after his death, Republicans running in primary races in Tennessee and Georgia immediately spent on ads accusing Democrats of causing Kirk’s killing.

In the GOP primary for Arizona governor, Rep. Andy Biggs — who shared a dual endorsement from the president before Karrin Taylor Robson dropped out earlier this month — leaned into Kirk’s endorsement to prove his MAGA bonafides.

“I’m the only candidate endorsed by President Trump, Charlie & Erika Kirk,” Biggs said on social media.

Rep. Byron Donalds (R-Fla.) also got Kirk’s personal nod for his run for Florida governor, and then later a nod from Turning Point Action, something Donalds called “an honor.”

Kirk’s influence extends far down the ballot. In a Mesa, Arizona, City Council race, Turning Point sent out emails last year calling to “Help Us Keep Charlies Legacy Alive” by ousting a moderate Republican. In Texas, comptroller candidate Don Huffines is running Facebook ads touting the endorsement from “Charlie Kirk's TPUSA Action.”

His stamp of approval is seen as so helpful that some candidates are using his likeness online — even if they weren't explicitly endorsed by Kirk.

Burt Jones, a Republican candidate for Georgia governor, used an image of himself overlaid on an image of Kirk on social media to promote himself as “the only Donald J. Trump and Turning Point Action-endorsed candidate” in the race. Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton, who received Turning Point Action’s endorsement in his U.S. Senate primary earlier this month, released an ad featuring a clip of Kirk saying, “Ken Paxton, we’re behind you one hundred percent.” While Paxton and Kirk were allies, Kirk never formally endorsed the attorney general in his U.S. Senate race — and the video is from a 2024 podcast in which Kirk invited Paxton on to discuss lawsuits against investment management companies.

Tyler Bowyer, COO of Turning Point Action (the political arm of Charlie Kirk’s Turning Point USA infrastructure), said it’s a “huge honor” to see candidates use Kirk’s image and name in advertising, noting many of the candidates knew Kirk personally and were influenced by him to run for office.

“So many people look at Charlie as a monumental figure,” Bowyer said in an interview. “We've been really pleased with how respectful people have been.”

The Turning Point Action endorsement, Marson said, will never fully match the weight of Kirk himself.

“It’s certainly nice, but Charlie Kirk was more well known than Turning Point,” he said. “Charlie Kirk was a person, a name, a presence and a force. Turning Point is just an entity.”

Kimberly Leonard contributed to this report.

A version of this article first appeared in POLITICO Pro’s Morning Score. Want to receive the newsletter every weekday? Subscribe to POLITICO Pro. You’ll also receive daily policy news and other intelligence you need to act on the day’s biggest stories.