Dark-money group Turning Point Action is spending millions to help Trump win Wisconsin

A far-right, dark-money organization headed by political activist Charlie Kirk has set up a sweeping get-out-the-vote operation in Wisconsin with hopes of winning the state for former President Donald Trump.

Based on two floors of a nondescript office building in Waukesha, Turning Point Action is training hundreds of "ballot chasers" aimed at boosting the turnout of conservative voters here. Kirk and Turning Point are dominant forces in the MAGA movement, promoting conservative principles and Christian nationalism.

The plan, called "chase the vote," has set up elaborate networks in three battleground states — Wisconsin, Michigan and Arizona — as well as parts of Nevada. Trump lost Wisconsin by a little more than 20,000 votes in 2020 after winning it by fewer than 23,000 votes in 2016.

The Turning Point Action project comes as the state Republican Party has struggled to keep up with Wisconsin Democrats' fundraising efforts and Trump has fielded a bare-bones campaign operation.

Instead of hitting up all Wisconsin residents, the idea is to focus on what the group calls "low propensity voters" who rarely cast a ballot in the state but support Trump's message.

"A ballot chaser is a paid door-knocker for us, a community organizer. A ballot chaser is someone who's chasing down every conservative low propensity and disengaged voter that they can," said Brett Galaszewski, a field enterprise director for Turning Point Action who spoke to the Journal Sentinel during the Republican National Convention in Milwaukee last month.

Galaszewski, a Marquette University graduate, said conservatives laughed at Barack Obama in 2008 when he said he was a community organizer in Chicago. But he said his group has now adopted the concept.

"It's the idea of being the CEO of your neighborhood for the conservative movement," Galaszewski said. "So we develop a network of ballot chasers, of paid staffers, that are on the ground door knocking in the neighborhoods that they know best because they live there."

Turning Point Action officials say they are trying to reach communities all across the state, going from Hudson to Kenosha. But job listings for more than 80 positions as ballot chasers focus heavily on Milwaukee and its suburbs. Last week, about 30 people attended a training session at the nonprofit's Waukesha offices, a former hospice.

The job postings call for workers who have an "unmatched passion for conservative politics" and an "unrelenting, positive attitude," and a "highly skilled, natural born leader and motivated individual" who will live within three miles of the ZIP code on the job posting.

The group is also looking for a voter analyst who can "utilize voter registration technology to document voting patterns and history."

"The future of the greatest nation that ever existed hangs in the balance,” Kirk said at his group's convention in Detroit last month. "We do our part, and we trust in God to do the rest."

Democrats tie Turning Point rhetoric to Capitol insurrection

State Democratic Party spokesman Joe Oslund criticized Turning Point as one of the group's responsible for spreading the lies that led to the Jan. 6, 2021, insurrection at the U.S. Capitol. He also took aim at Turning Point Action's efforts to help Trump win the state with its elaborate voter mobilization drive.

"At the end of the day, though, there’s no substitute for genuine enthusiasm and robust in-state infrastructure — as we all saw clearly last Tuesday, when those risky constitutional amendments pushed by Wisconsin Republicans went down in flames," Oslund said.

Democrats are using a traditional get-out-the-vote system of paid staff working with thousands of volunteers out of targeted party offices.

Andrew Kolvet, spokesman for Turning Point Action, said voter enthusiasm is on Trump's side because of what he calls Democrats' weaponization of the legal system and their leading a coup against their own presidential nominee.

"Democrats had competititive races in Wisconsin primaries, which drives turnout," Kolvet said. "We're ready and gearing up for early voting and Election Day in the general."

Turning Point Action's turnout operation couldn't come at a more crucial time.

The Republican Party of Wisconsin — normally the entity responsible for rounding up conservative voters — continues to trail its counterparts in the state Democratic Party by a significant margin. Since January 2023, the Democrats have raised nearly $58 million in its state and federal accounts, compared to $9.4 million for the Republicans.

Also, the Trump campaign's field operation has seriously lagged behind its original plans, according to the Washington Post.

Republicans planned to build an elaborate get-out-the-vote strategy in crucial states like Wisconsin. But those plans were discarded after the Trump team took over the Republican National Committee earlier this year.

Then, the Federal Election Commission ruled in March that campaigns and groups such as Turning Point Action could coordinate their activities. In the past, parties and candidate campaign committees could not share information and strategy with super PACs and nonprofits.

Kirk recently acknowledged that Turning Point Action is "allowed to work in harmony (with the Trump campaign) on doors and canvassing."

But Kolvet, the spokesman for Turning Point, said his organization had been planning its "chase the vote" operation long before that FEC ruling.

"We're not doing this in lieu of the campaign," Kolvet said. "The campaign absolutely should do its own thing. We're supportive of the RNC and their vision, and we're supporting the campaign's vision. So if we weren't, I would tell you. But there's a lot of good harmony and a lot of good encouragement."

Turning Point Action had a scaled-down turnout operation in Arizona in 2022.

Kolvet said the group spent half a million dollars on volunteer door-knocking, some Super Saturday events and a couple of rallies with Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis.

"It was the Stone Age compared to this, right?" Kolvet said. "We were trying to use existing technology and existing data. And we realized that we needed to build our own. And that's what we've done. And so we're happy to share it with anybody."

State Republican Party Chairman Brian Schimming, who has struggled to raise money for the party since taking over in 2022, said people shouldn't get the impression that the state GOP is not active in this election. He said the party has a strong presence throughout the state.

Still, Schimming said, he welcomes other groups lending a helping hand.

"We've got like 30 field offices open now, and we've got dozens of employees," Schimming said at the RNC last month. The number is now up to 42 offices. "We've hit on thousands of doors already. But we need the help of those third-party groups, believe me."

But there's one huge difference between the turnout operations between the state parties and Turning Point Action.

State parties are highly regulated and have to report exactly where they are raising money and how they are spending it.

Turning Point doesn't disclose its funders

That's not the case for Kirk's group.

In fact, Turning Point is a cluster of groups. It has a political action committee that has been donating thousands of dollars to county Republican parties around the state, including ones in Winnebago, Dane, La Crosse, St. Croix, Waukesha, Ozaukee and Brown counties.

The Ozaukee County GOP posted a picture on Facebook of local Republican officials receiving a $12,000 check from Turning Point PAC officials, including Tyler Bowyer, chief operating officer for Turning Point Action. Bowyer was indicted this year for his role in Arizona's fake elector scheme. He pleaded not guilty.

Turning Point USA is an $80 million charitable nonprofit that calls itself "the largest and most impactful movement for promoting freedom-loving, American values." It has a student division that encourages young people to learn conservative values. It also has Turning Point Faith, which says its aim is to push back against "secular totalitarianism in America, eradicate wokeism from the church … and wake up believers to their biblical responsibility to fight for freedom."

Finally, Turning Point Action, which is running "chase the vote," is a 501(c)(4) organization, meaning it's a nonprofit dedicated to the social welfare of the community but also allowed to engage in politics. These groups are called "dark money organizations" because they have to report their spending long after the fact and they never have to disclose their donors.

In 2023, Turning Point Action reported raising $10.7 million and spending $8 million, according to federal tax forms. But under donors, the group simply said "restricted."

Turning Point Action hasn't said who is underwriting the "chase the vote" operation in Wisconsin this year, and it's unlikely to ever to disclose that information to the public. The Guardian has estimated the operation will cost $100 million. It's not clear what that is based on, but the project undoubtedly is costing many millions of dollars.

Kolvet didn't dispute the organization's status as a dark money outfit, but he said it would be unfair to suggest that Turning Point Action is the only such group out there.

He said there are many more liberal 501(c)(4) groups nationally than conservative ones.

"We're outgunned significantly in this category," Kolvet said.

Open Secrets has found that dark money and shell corporations are "on track to track to steer more money from undisclosed sources to the 2023-2024 election than any prior cycle." The group found 52% of those funds went to liberal candidates while 45% went to conservatives.

Contact Daniel Bice at (414) 313-6684 or [email protected]. Follow him on X at @DanielBice or on Facebook at fb.me/daniel.bice.

This story was republished March 3, 2025, to make it free for all readers.