Dem
47
GOP
53
Since Charlie Kirk was horrifically assassinated in September, the organization he founded, Turning Point USA, has been run by his wife, Erika. It had previously been very strong in Arizona, but the new leadership will be tested for the first time next week. In the city of Mesa, Councilmember Julie Spilsbury is being targeted by TPUSA. Although Spilsbury is a lifelong Republican, she is not a MAGA Republican. She supported Kamala Harris last year, and that was beyond the pale for TPUSA. The group collected enough signatures to force a recall election for her. That will be on the ballot next week.
Spilsbury said: "I feel like Turning Point is on a mission to flip all the nonpartisan city councils and school boards into partisan elections, and they want everyone to think the same way." In the election, TPUSA favorite Dorean Taylor is running against Spilsbury. There are many "FIX MESA VOTE TAYLOR" signs in town. Tyler Bowyer, the TPUSA COO, tweeted: "JULIE SPILSBURY was all smiles trying to put Commie-la Harris into office." How this election turns out could give an idea whether TPUSA still retains the power it had under Kirk.
TPUSA is indeed injecting itself into what used to be nonpartisan elections. For example, there is an election for the Salt River Project board, which sets energy and climate goals for thousands of square miles of the state. Bowyer said his goal is to out-register Democrats 10:1 before that election. He wants to get what he calls "radical environmentalists" out of the state. In contrast, the Democrats are not really much involved in nonpartisan elections like this, because, well, they are (supposed to be) nonpartisan. But these days, "nonpartisan" is as much of a fairy tale as "bipartisan." (V)