Unlike a typical Thursday, it wasn’t live music packing Duke’s Roadhouse last night.

Dozens of Maricopa residents turned out for Phoenix-based Turning Point Action’s inaugural coalition kickoff, “Red, White and Boots,” held at the restaurant to rally organizers and volunteers ahead of upcoming elections. The event came just weeks after the assassination of founder Charlie Kirk, with flyers declaring, “WE ARE CHARLIE!”

Caitlin Orcutt, TPA organizer for Pinal County, told the packed room the group’s goal is to “chase ballots and gather people.” She noted Republicans currently hold 53% of political seats across 11 battleground states and said the goal is to ensure stronger conservative representation in Arizona.

“Turning Point is the forefront. Arizona is not a battle state, it is red, and it needs to be deep red,” Orcutt said during the event. “We have to scare the Democrats out of Arizona.” 

For many in the crowd, that message landed. 

Among them was Marana resident Mike Orcutt, Caitlin Orcutt’s father, who came to support both the coalition and his daughter. 

“I see Democrats losing seats left and right. I think that’s going to happen. There’s going to be a huge, huge outreach of people that are going to be voting in every single election now,” he predicted. 

Santa Rosa Springs resident Linda Allen said Kirk’s death had “catapulted” people into action. Allen, wearing a bright red shirt reading “It’s time to make Charlie proud,” said she has noticed the shift. 

“There’s a lot more people than I expected,” she reacted to the turnout last night. “But you know what else I noticed? Our church is a lot busier, really fuller. I think [Kirk] woke people up.”

Sheriff Ross Teeple, one of several local elected officials at the event, said he hopes the momentum translates to a bigger voter turnout in the midterms. 

“One of the big things … is getting people involved. I don’t want to know how you vote. I just want to know that you vote,” he said. “We need to get people out in the midterm elections. They need to understand that local elections matter.”