DALLAS — The Republican National Committee left an empty chair for Charlie Kirk at the party’s midterm convention and tried to fill the void with a moving tribute one year after his assassination on a college campus in Utah.
Kirk was killed by a single sniper’s bullet while speaking to students at an outdoor event on the campus of Utah Valley University on Sept. 10, 2025.
As co-founder of Turning Point USA, Kirk had played a major role in driving up the youth vote for President Trump in 2024, undoubtedly helping him clinch a second term.
Kirk would have, in all likelihood, taken the stage this week at the American Airlines Arena as a primetime speaker at the party’s first midterm convention.
His steady support of Mr. Trump and powerful influence over legions of young voters would have been coveted by the GOP as the party faces significant concerns over Republican voter turnout in November.
Instead, his widow, Erika Kirk, looked on tearfully as Mr. Trump paid tribute to Kirk on Wednesday night. Kirk was memorialized Thursday in a video montage that played on huge screens inside the arena.
“There’s no way to replace Charlie Kirk,” Vice President J.D. Vance said in an interview Thursday on Kirk’s eponymous show, which is now hosted by his top lieutenant, Andrew Kolvet.
Turning Point USA reported significant growth since Kirk’s death, from 900 chapters on college campuses to 1,500 chapters involving 200,000 student members and a massive social media following.
“Turning Point is not dead. The organization Charlie founded is still growing. A new generation is stepping forward,” Pastor Lucas Miles, Vice President of TPUSA Faith, told the arena crowd.
Whether the organization will be able to mobilize young voters without Kirk’s outsized influence, however, remains to be seen.
Kirk’s absence in the midterms comes amid polling that shows Mr. Trump and the GOP losing the substantial 2024 gains it made among young voters, particularly young men.
Less than two months from the midterms, young voters are frustrated with the high cost of living and it’s impacting some of the nation’s most crucial races.
In the Texas Senate race, Democrat James Talarico was 4 points ahead of Republican Attorney General Ken Paxton in a new poll of likely voters sponsored by AARP. Among voters aged 18-34, Mr. Talarico led Mr. Paxton by 29 points.
Kirk may still have a direct impact on the 2026 race. He inspired Greg Cunningham to run for New Mexico’s 2nd Congressional District House seat, now held by Democrat Rep. Gabe Vasquez.
“I very literally would not be here if not for Charlie. He visited my church and he inspired me to take a stand and answer a call to serve on this new battlefield,” Mr. Cunningham said.
Mr. Kolvet and some of his team did not attend the convention. They remained on the Kirk show set to memorialize Kirk on the first anniversary of his death.
Mrs. Kirk attended the convention with some of the TPUSA team.
“Charlie should be here,” said Tyler Bowyer, the chief operating officer of Turning Point Action, when Mr. Trump walked out on the stage to a roaring crowd Wednesday. “He should be speaking tomorrow instead of it being the one year since his murder.”
The Charlie Kirk Show held a moment of silence Thursday at 12:23 p.m. Mountain Time, which is when the fatal shot was fired at Kirk, who was 31 and a father of two.
Mr. Kolvet called Kirk a hero and a martyr and said he wants to see his killer punished.
The man accused of killing Kirk, Tyler Robinson, 23, will be tried for aggravated murder, which makes him eligible for the death penalty.
He pleaded not guilty earlier this month, nearly a full year after the shooting, and his defense team won’t commit to a trial date. The next pre-trial hearing is slated for Oct. 23.
On Thursday, a bouquet and an American flag placard were placed on the black chair left empty for Kirk at the convention. Messages were scrawled on Post-it notes on the wall behind it.
“Faith over fear,” one note read. “We miss you Charlie.”
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