PHOENIX, ARIZONA – Erika Kirk’s leadership after her husband Charlie Kirk’s assassination has resonated with young women and given hope at Turning Point USA that the traditionally liberal-leaning demographic will find a permanent home in the conservative movement.

Young women gathered outside Turning Point USA’s headquarters told the Washington Examiner they were drawn not just by grief, but by the example of Kirk’s widow, whose words in the days since the killing have given them a new sense of direction. Within two days of her husband’s killing, Erika Kirk stepped in front of the cameras in the studio where he once recorded his podcast and delivered an emotional 16-minute address. In it, she mixed searing personal testimony with a pledge to carry on his mission, at one point describing her resolve as a “battle cry.”

Recommended Stories

• Major House Republican players head for the exits leaving gaps in the lower chamber
• Schwarzenegger's star appeal and political reach tested in Proposition 50 redistricting fight
• Democratic NJ governor candidate claims Charlie Kirk wanted to 'roll back rights of women and black people'

“The cries of this widow will echo around this world like a battle cry,” she declared, calling the moment a test of “spiritual warfare.” Within hours, images of her speech circulated widely online, described by supporters as a call to “rise up.” By Thursday, the board had confirmed her ascendance, naming her chief executive and chair of Turning Point USA.

Among those keeping vigil outside the headquarters was Erica Rodriguez, a 24-year-old from Albuquerque, who said she first met Charlie Kirk when her Turning Point chapter at the University of New Mexico came under siege from protests and a Title IX complaint in 2022. Kirk, she recalled, flew in to stand beside her. “He came and had an event for my chapter, made sure that we didn’t feel left out or alone,” Rodriguez said. “He was my mentor, like a big brother.”

She had heard Erika speak at three of Turning Point’s Young Women’s Leadership Summits, which drew about 3,000 attendees this year. The focus on dating, parenting, and lifestyle, she said, resonated more than policy talk. “She was always kind of out there, but she was always next to Charlie,” Rodriguez said. “Now she has to be on her own, and I’m so sad for her, but having that national spotlight to repeat the message she’s always shared is powerful.”

That message struck Rodriguez at a pivotal moment in her own life. She spoke about recently calling off an engagement, explaining that after hearing Erika talk about her marriage, she realized she wanted a deeper kind of partnership. “Listening to her talk about Charlie, I could never have talked about that man the way she talks about him,” Rodriguez said. “That makes me want to go find someone even better than what I already had.”

Her perspective also underscored the challenge conservatives face with women her age. After knocking on doors for Republican campaigns in New Mexico in 2024, Rodriguez saw firsthand how young men turned out in greater numbers than young women. She believes Erika Kirk could help change that, especially by challenging cultural pressures she feels are holding women back.

“We have to stop telling women that we have to do all of the things,” she said. “The more they work, the less they like it. I don’t want to be working full time thinking about children at home that I should be taking care of instead, because that should be my first ministry.”

After the 2024 election, when young men swung sharply toward Donald Trump, conservatives pointed to the numbers as proof that years of courting disaffected male voters had paid off. Men under 30 gave Trump some of his strongest margins, with only about 46 percent backing then-Vice President Kamala Harris, according to Catalist. Young women, however, moved in the opposite direction. Nearly two-thirds supported Harris, keeping Democrats’ advantage in tact and highlighting the limits of Trump’s appeal. 

For Republicans, and for Turning Point USA and its political arm, Turning Point Action, the gap has become both glaring and urgent. Winning young men helped deliver Trump back to the White House, but higher turnout and continued Democratic loyalty among young women remain a hurdle.

Charlie Kirk came and converted the young men.

Erika Kirk is coming to convert the young women.

— Tyler Bowyer (@tylerbowyer) September 19, 2025

Tyler Bowyer, Turning Point Action’s chief operating officer, put it more bluntly in a post on X that quickly went viral: “Charlie Kirk came and converted the young men. Erika Kirk is coming to convert the young women.”

In an interview, Bowyer said that the line reflected both grief and optimism. For years, he explained, Turning Point focused heavily on young men, convinced a “weakening of masculinity” had rippled through politics, faith, and family life. Charlie Kirk, he said, tapped into that crisis, and the 2024 election proved it, with young men turning out in record numbers.

What Bowyer didn’t expect was how quickly Erika Kirk would spark a parallel reaction among women. “This week my inbox has been flooded, 80 to 90 percent from women, saying their hearts have been changed, that now they want to get involved,” he said. “That’s never happened before. Usually, it’s almost all men.”

Among those moved was Nicole Gervais, a 26-year-old from Tucson who had followed Charlie Kirk on social media for the past five years and admired his boldness in sharing both his politics and his faith. “He was the voice of my generation,” she said. “He wasn’t afraid to share the gospel and the love of Jesus with everyone. That was so inspiring to me. I’m ready to go out there and do the same thing.”

Now, Gervais says she looks to Erika Kirk as a “Proverbs 31 woman” whose example could spark a revival. “We have something so wonderful to look up to and try to follow in their footsteps,” she said. Motivated by the moment, she has begun organizing a Turning Point chapter at a nearby high school tied to the elementary school where she teaches. 

The test of Erika Kirk’s appeal will come quickly, with the 2026 midterm elections offering the first chance to see whether young women rally in greater numbers.

Among those watching closely is 16-year-old Ella Udzinski of Stuart, Fl., who said Erika Kirk’s message had already pushed some of her friends to church and away from the Democratic Party. Her friend, Gracyn Rathel of Orlando, will be 18 by November 2026, and says she plans to cast her first ballot for Republicans.

“I think young women are craving something the Democratic Party isn’t giving them,” Rathel said. “Voting will be my chance to help bring that change.”

CHARLIE KIRK ASSASSINATION PUTS CONSERVATIVE YOUTH MOVEMENT AT A TURNING POINT

Whether that sentiment can be scaled beyond the vigil in Phoenix may determine how much Erika Kirk reshapes her late husband’s movement, and whether Republicans can finally make inroads with young women.

History suggests it won’t be easy. Since 1992, women under 30 have backed Democrats by double-digit margins in every presidential election, giving the party some of its strongest support. Midterms show a similar pattern. Youth turnout reached about 28% in 2018 and dropped to 23% in 2022, according to Tufts University’s CIRCLE project. Even in those lower-turnout years, young voters, especially young women, leaned heavily Democratic. It’s a reminder that shifting young women to the right would require breaking one of the most durable trends in American politics.

Bowyer said the mission now is to push forward anyway. “All we can do is the work that Charlie tasked us with,” he said. “To till the ground with as much effort and muscle as we can, every single day, to capture the hearts and minds of as many people as possible before 2026.”