Turning Point: Charlie Kirk’s Movement Makes a Splash – to Little Effect

By KATHARINE WEBSTER, InDepthNH.org

Turning Point Action, part of the movement founded by the late Charlie Kirk to energize young conservatives, got plenty of media attention on Election Day for bringing celebrities to New Hampshire polling places – and for an alleged assault by a 70-year-old on one of the group’s representatives in Laconia.

Young people from around the country staffed Turning Point Action booths outside many New Hampshire polling places Tuesday, displaying signs that said “Vote Red Down Ballot” and offering literature endorsing Republicans for federal and state offices.

And well-known athletes, including former New England Patriots tight end Rob Gronkowski and former boxing champ Floyd Mayweather Jr., made brief appearances for the group’s “Chase the Vote” efforts Tuesday.

Meanwhile, the Laconia Daily Sun posted a video – later shared widely on social media – of an older man arguing with a Turning Point Action representative in Laconia, giving the young man the finger and then allegedly slapping him. Stephen Redic turned himself in to police Wednesday on charges of simple assault and disorderly conduct.

Yet for all the attention and reports of major spending in the state, Turning Point Action did not get the results it hoped for.

Democrats won their U.S. House and Senate races handily and flipped both chambers of the state Legislature as well as the Executive Council. The only major victory for Republicans was the re-election of Gov. Kelly Ayotte.

State Rep. Lisa Mazur, R-Goffstown, Turning Point Action’s Chase the Vote director for New Hampshire, did not immediately return emailed questions Wednesday afternoon about the group’s activities and spending in the state. Mazur, who was first elected to represent Goffstown and Weare in 2022, won re-election Tuesday.

Some voters expressed surprise to see Turning Point Action booths and activists outside so many polling places. Reporters for and readers of InDepthNH.org saw Turning Point Action booths in Nashua, Portsmouth, Durham, Manchester, Atkinson, Barrington and beyond.

“They were in our town of Hampton Falls, where the population is only 2,400,” said Deborah Regan, chair of the town’s Democratic committee, Hampton Falls Forward.

Regan asked the three young people in the booth where they were from. They were from Texas, New Jersey and New Hampshire, she said.

According to a September article in Wired magazine, New Hampshire was one of three states targeted by Turning Point Action in the lead-up to the midterm elections for millions of dollars in advertising, along with Nevada and Arizona, where the group is headquartered.

The organization advertised for hundreds of positions in the three states, as well as in Michigan, Pennsylvania, Ohio, Wisconsin and Indiana, although most of the jobs were in Arizona.

Turning Point Action, an offshoot of Turning Point USA, is registered as a 501(c)4, a nonprofit with a mission that promotes social welfare or benefits the community.

Such groups lie halfway between a charitable organization and a political action committee, or PAC: While they are nonprofits, donations are not tax-deductible and the groups can engage in lobbying as long as it is related to their mission. They can also promote candidates and issues, as long as campaign activity is secondary, i.e. less than 50 percent of their activity.

Turning Point USA and Turning Point Action also have an affiliated PAC, Turning Point PAC, which can make direct contributions to candidates. Unlike charities and PACs, 501(c)4s do not have to disclose their donors, which is why they are often called “dark money” groups.

Turning Point Action issues “scorecards” for states and politicians, ranging from a high of “America First” for politicians and candidates whose votes align with the group’s positions more than 95 percent of the time, to “Tyrant” for those who vote with Turning Point less than 20 percent of the time.

Overall, New Hampshire’s all-Democratic federal delegation scores as “Becoming Tyrannical,” at 21 percent agreement with the group. For state government, Turning Point Action scores New Hampshire as “Erratic,” at 54 percent agreement.

But given the results of Tuesday’s election, the group could soon be ranking New Hampshire’s state government as “Betraying America” or “Turncoat” – under 50 percent agreement.

That’s a turning point indeed.

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