Special Edition: March 9, 2026
Discussion of SB1439, the ill-fated Charlie Kirk license plate bill, and CEBV's veto letter.
Turning Point USA and its supporters are furious that Democratic Gov. Katie Hobbs won’t let them use the Arizona Department of Transportation as their own personal cash cow.
Last Friday, Hobbs vetoed SB1439, which would have created a special license plate for Charlie Kirk. In her veto letter, she pointed out that the bill “falls short” by “inserting politics into a function of government that should remain nonpartisan.”
Predictably, this spurred Turning Point and the far right to erupt in over-the-top social media outrage. The bill's sponsor howled about what he called “far-left extremism.” Turning Point's COO labeled the veto “disgusting.” Senate President Warren Petersen accused a journalist of bias simply for tweeting about the subject. One TPUSA-linked far-right activist, Alyssa Dehen, even called for Gov. Hobbs, an Arizona-born US citizen, to be deported.
Perhaps our favorite example of pearl-clutching was this out-of-touch whine: “Arizona highways, buildings, and memorials have been named after elected officials and public figures for decades.” This deliberately ignores the fact that naming a freeway for someone is a symbolic honor, not a revenue stream. Not only would Turning Point have directly profited off every license plate sold, but the bill sponsor has made millions off contracts with the organization, fueling concerns of improper self-dealing.
These extremists' attempts to drum up such fierce backlash might lead you to think Arizona is made up wholly of Kirk sycophants, and that no one anywhere in the state thinks differently. However, as journalist Elvia Diaz writes, “Placing the image of Kirk on a state-issued plate to keep cash flowing into a network that feeds off partisan politics sows deeper divisions, especially during an election year.” We couldn't agree more. Though previous legislatures and governors have approved biased and politically skewed plates, we hope this veto signals that this disturbing practice has finally ended.
This type of opportunistic, partisan self-dealing has no place in our state. In that spirit, we're publishing here the letter we sent to Gov. Hobbs' office urging her to veto SB1439.
On behalf of our volunteers and thousands of concerned citizens statewide, Civic Engagement Beyond Voting urges Gov. Hobbs to veto SB1439, which would create a special license plate for Charlie Kirk.
Benefits a biased political group. Some of Arizona’s 109 special plates serve to raise money for biased political groups, such as the hate group Alliance Defending Freedom and the anti-abortion Arizona Life Coalition. This plate would be similarly problematic, as it is designed to fund Turning Point USA, which exclusively promotes hard-right causes and policies. Its sister organization, Turning Point Action, works to elect far-right Republican candidates and register Republican voters. Rep. Teresa Martinez (R-16) acknowledged in committee that the measure is written to make TPUSA the only group that could qualify for the plate. Allowing specialty plates to fund such an organization would dangerously blur the lines between state neutrality and political advocacy.
May financially enrich the sponsor. The bill’s sponsor, Jake Hoffman, owns companies, Rally Forge and 1Ten, that have received millions of dollars from Turning Point USA and TPUSA-affiliated groups. Publicly available tax documents and campaign finance reports show a clear and troubling pattern of financial entanglement and personal profit. From 2017-2019, TPUSA paid Hoffman’s Rally Forge more than $1.6 million for advertising, marketing and digital education services. In 2022-2023, Turning Point Action paid Hoffman’s 1Ten over $1 million for social and digital media advertising; this pattern continued into 2025, with Turning Point Action paying Hoffman’s 1Ten more than $450,000 last year through at least October. This pattern raises ethical questions as to whether the sponsor would directly profit from the passage of this bill.
Legitimizes extremism. The horrific way Kirk was killed does not excuse the combative, incendiary, racist and sexist behavior around which he constructed his public work. Kirk routinely made inflammatory statements that do not reflect Arizona values, including proclaiming that he would force his 10-year-old daughter to carry a rapist’s pregnancy to term; promoting the white supremacist “great replacement theory”; repeating dangerous anti-Islamic bigotry; telling Taylor Swift to “submit to her husband”; labeling lauded US Supreme Court Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson a “diversity hire”; and labeling empathy “a made-up New Age term that does a lot of damage.” Honoring him with a state license plate would raise this hard-right extremism above the reach of public questioning, which would be an insult to women, people of color and LGBTQ+ Arizonans. It would send a clear message that the most marginalized Arizonans who lived every day in the crosshairs of his rhetoric are less valued than the white man who spent his life rage-baiting, stereotyping and excluding them. Lionizing Kirk with a license plate is a brazen effort to proclaim that he represents the views of our state, when that could not be further from the truth.
Lacks bipartisan backing. Your Democratic legislative colleagues clearly understand the many problems with this measure, as both SB1439 and HB2112 passed through the House and the Senate along partisan lines with only Republicans in support. We do not have to accept political violence or tolerate the manner of Kirk’s death in order to stand against the racism, white nationalism, homophobia and misogyny he spent his life promoting. We can and should do both.
As always, CEBV is willing to provide further background, talking points and rationale as needed.
⏰ If you have 5 minutes: Contact Gov. Hobbs' office at 602-542-4331 or engage@az.gov to express your thanks for this veto.
⏰⏰ If you have 10 minutes: Also post on social media expressing your opinion on the veto.
⏰⏰⏰ If you have 20 minutes: Write a Letter to the Editor supporting the veto. Consult CEBV's LTE Hub for support and resources.
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