Republicans erupt at rejection of Charlie Kirk license plate

Democratic Governor Katie Hobbs of Arizona has vetoed a bill that would have posthumously honored deceased Turning Point USA founder Charlie Kirk . Hobbs rejected the measure on Friday that would have created a commemorative license plate to honor Kirk. Kirk lived in Arizona, which became home to TPUSA's vast organizational campus after originally being started in Kirk's parents' garage outside of Chicago, Illinois. The conservative luminary was shot dead during a speaking event at Utah Valley University on September 10. Tyler Robinson, 22, has been charged with his murder.

The Arizona legislation sought to direct $17 of the $25 license plate fee to the Conservative Grassroots Network Special Plate Fund. The plate would feature an image of Kirk with his fist in the air, as well as the TPUSA logo. The money would then make an annual donation to an organization founded in 2012 that supports voter registration efforts at high schools and college campuses, according to the bill text. But in her explanation of a veto Hobbs said she wanted to avoid partisan politics. 'Charlie Kirk's assassination is tragic and a horrifying act of violence. In America, we resolve our political differences at the ballot box. No matter who it targets, political violence puts us all in harm's way and damages our sacred democratic institutions,' Hobbs noted in her veto letter.

'I will continue working toward solutions that bring people together, but this bill falls short of that standard by inserting politics into a function of government that should remain nonpartisan,' she added. The bill passed the state Senate with 16-2 vote and in the state House by a 31-23 vote. Both chambers are controlled by Republicans. Jake Hoffman, a top ally of Kirk and the state Senator who sponsored the legislation, blasted Hobbs in a Friday X post for her veto.

'Katie Hobbs' grotesque partisanship knows no bounds. Even in the wake of a global civil rights leader — an Arizona resident and her own constituent — being assassinated in broad daylight for his defense of the First Amendment, Hobbs couldn't find the human decency to put her far-Left extremism aside simply to allow those how wish to honor him to do so,' Hoffman noted. Tyler Bowyer, TPUSA's COO, also chimed in on X Saturday, noting, 'Katie Hobbs wants you to forget about Charlie Kirk. Good reason to show up and vote this year.'

Hobbs is running for re-election in this year's mid-term election, and is facing a field of candidates that includes two GOP Congressmen, Andy Biggs and David Schweikert. TPUSA, which was founded in 2012, was not directly named as the organization that would receive the funds from the license plate fees. Kirk's organization has raised millions and started dozens of new chapters after his death, under the leadership of his widow, Erika Kirk.