Arizona governor vetoes bill to name highway after Charlie Kirk [View all]

Source: Scripps News/AP

Posted 11:30 AM, Mar 31, 2026


There will be no Charlie Kirk highway in his home state of Arizona. The reason: politics. Exactly whose politics is to blame has become a point of debate.

Kirk, the conservative activist known for his campus debates, was assassinated last year during an event at Utah Valley University. Republicans in Arizona, where Kirk's Turning Point USA organization is based, passed legislation attempting to add Kirk's name to Loop 202, a highway circling through the sprawling Phoenix area.

Democratic Gov. Katie Hobbs vetoed it on Friday. In a veto message to state lawmakers, Hobbs denounced political violence but suggested that Republicans had inappropriately injected politics into a decision rightly left to a state board that names historic highways.

“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,” Hobbs wrote.

Read more: https://www.scrippsnews.com/us-news/arizona-governor-vetoes-bill-to-name-highway-after-charlie-kirk