Turning Point gets its ass handed to it in the SRP elections

This might not be the kind of turning point they had in mind.

Leadership elections for the Salt River Project are usually sleepy affairs, but this year’s races were unusually high-profile. That’s because Turning Point Action, the political arm of the Charlie Kirk-founded Turning Point USA, decided to flex its financial and organizational might in the battle to control the massive public utility, which serves 2 million customers throughout much of the East Valley. Turning Point spent gobs of money advertising for a pro-industry slate of candidates and even sent an army of employees and volunteers to harvest ballots — a legal practice in SRP elections — in hopes of fending off a progressive slate called the Clean Energy Team.

For all that effort, Turning Point’s toxic brand may have worked against it. Per unofficial results released by SRP, Turning Point-backed candidates Chris Dobson and Barry Paceley comfortably won the presidency and vice presidency, respectively, of both the SRP district and SRP association. (The former provides electricity and sets energy rates, while the latter is a water utility.) But the Clean Energy Team flipped two seats on the 14-member district board, shifting control of the body to clean-energy-friendly board members.

As a result, SRP will be governed by a board of directors that, on balance, is more open to renewable energy investment and more skeptical of fossil fuels and data centers. The Clean Energy team also gained several seats on the district’s 30-member advisory council. In fact, in 13 head-to-head races for district leadership — including races for president and vice president — Clean Energy Team candidates won 11 of the matchups.

On social media, Turning Point claimed a “HUGE VICTORY” because Dobson and Paceley won their races, eliding the losses further down the ballot that relinquished control of the governing board.

“Democrats had told donors this was the inevitable year they would win President and Vice President of SRP and control the agenda,” wrote Turning Point Action COO Tyler Bowyer on social media. “They failed massively with a huge turnout. (More than 4x the normal turnout) Ballot chasing works!”

Bowyer did not respond to a request for comment. Other observers were not so celebratory.

“Complete botch job by Turning Point Action, losing majority of SRP board seats to leftists,” tweeted Maricopa County Supervisor Thomas Galvin, a more traditional Republican who also favored the pro-industry slate.

The losses for Turning Point, despite the massive investment of money and effort, could be a troubling bellwether for both Republicans and Turning Point itself as it approaches a crucial midterm election in November. Earlier this week, Democrats picked up another seat on the Wisconsin Supreme Court, despite efforts by Turning Point in that state. And Bowyer spoke about the SRP elections as a dry run for its efforts to win the Arizona governorship for GOP Rep. Andy Biggs, a MAGA election denier who is looking to unseat Democratic Gov. Katie Hobbs.

Biggs is seen as a heavy favorite to win the GOP primary over Rep. David Schweikert, but if the Turning Point brand is as harmful as the SRP results suggest, a far-right candidate with Biggs’ associations and policy positions may be in for an uphill battle.