Turning Point wants to revolutionize the way Republicans attract voters. Some are skeptical

WASHINGTON (AP) — Airing at 11 a.m. EDT, Monday, Oct. 7; print lines only; coded as Only when turning on AP…

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Turning Point officials in meetings with state and local Republican leaders made two things clear – Donald Trump has blessed their conservative organization to help him lead his get-out-the-vote efforts, and local party officials should use the group’s new voter mobilization app.

Both prospects terrify other Republicans.

Turning Point, which rose to fame after Trump’s unexpected victory in 2016, has built a reputation for hosting lavish events, cultivating far-right influencers and raising colossal sums of money while enriching the group’s leadership. They were much less successful in helping Republicans win, especially in their adopted home state of Arizona.

Now the organization has used its ties to Trump to expand its influence in a way that could be potentially lucrative. Turning Point is seeking to lead efforts to overhaul the GOP’s get-out-the-vote efforts on the theory that there are thousands of Trump supporters who rarely vote but could be swayed in this year’s election. They also believe that their new mobile application is crucial to the success of this venture.

The Associated Press obtained an unvarnished look at how Turning Point promotes its strategy by obtaining several recordings of presentations its representatives make to state and local Republican officials. In these presentations, Turning Point staff focused on churchgoers and hunters, citing statistics that purport to show how few people from each group cast ballots in 2020. Their argument, widely disputed by critics, is that groups like Turning Point targets such groups. Recordings show Republicans likely to elect Trump in swing states.

Trump’s decision to rely on untested groups like Turning Point could have far-reaching consequences for the November election. Turning Point claims to operate statewide in Arizona and Wisconsin, two must-win states for Trump. He also works with two competitive House districts, one in Michigan and the other in Nevada, which could also help tip the scales in the presidential race.

“Their strategy is wrong. They know how to talk to MAGA, they know how to get the message across to the base,” said Tyler Montague, an Arizona Republican strategist and longtime Trump critic. “But they literally don’t know what to say to a swing voter.”

A Turning Point spokesman rejected such criticism, saying the group plays an important role for conservative candidates. “We did this because we knew Conservatives needed” a way to identify and select voters, spokesman Andrew Kolvet said.

A simple, if questionable, strategy

Turning Point agents believe there is a large group of untapped conservative voters who did not support Trump in the last election. They believe the best way to get Trump back to the White House is to activate these voters. This strategy appears to largely ignore independents – or less staunch Republicans – because Turning Point’s far-right policies don’t seem to appeal to them.

Recordings obtained by the AP show Turning Point officials have fully embraced this strategy and believe it would help them win the previous election and secure victory in November.

“If we had even an ounce of votes chasing the ballot, just in Arizona,” Republicans would have won all their races, Turning Point official Matthew Martinez said at a June event in Detroit, referring to the practice of persuading people to vote early while also reaching out to those who did not vote

Experts are skeptical

Voting pattern experts doubt that Turning Point’s efforts to mobilize the few Trump-leaning voters will make much of an impact on the election. Experts noted that turnout in the last two presidential elections has already brought record numbers of voters to the polls, meaning the group of voters they want to attract is small and particularly unlikely to turn out.

“In these presidential election years, you had the highest turnout in Michigan than ever before. It’s doubtful they’ll get more than that,’ said Bernie Porn, a nonpartisan pollster who has worked in the state for more than 30 years.

“Just download the app”

For more than a year, Turning Point has been aggressively promoting its new voter mobilization app – a potentially lucrative venture that critics say could strengthen its grip on the Republican Party machine. Recordings obtained by the AP show that Turning Point operatives rely heavily on their close ties to Trump, who regularly appears at Turning Point conferences, when meeting with state and local GOP leaders.

“We are now an official arm of the Trump campaign,” Turning Point agent Luke Malace told members of the Monroe County, Michigan, Republican Party earlier this year, urging the group to become a paying “customer.”

The app was designed by Superfeed, a company with direct ties to Turning Point leaders. Tyler Bowyer, Turning Point’s chief operating officer, serves on the company’s board and previously served as its president, business records show. Kirk’s mother-in-law also serves on the Superfeed board.

“It’s all in-house,” Malace said at a county reception in Michigan.

Malace did not respond to a request for comment. Superfeed representatives also did not respond to a request for comment.

Kolvet, the Turning Point spokesman, said Malace mischaracterized the organization’s relationship with the app’s developer. Turning Point does not receive any money earned by Superfeed, and the conservative group has no “financial relationship” with the app’s creator, Kolvet said.

Turning Point app and data plans face criticism

Some Republicans told the AP that there are serious problems with the Turning Point app, which provides minimal security measures to protect voters’ personal information.

Others said they liked the app and praised Turning Point’s new direction.

Turning Point “is doing the job that no one else is willing to do, and the party isn’t doing it,” said Matt Brown, chairman of the Yakima County Republican Party in Washington. He said he learned about Superfeed at a Turning Point event in December 2023, and his county party became a Superfeed customer.

The app is seen by Republican strategists as the latest example of a turning point where there has been a greater focus on using data as a way to enhance its own role in the party’s future rather than helping it now.