Leaders with Young Republican groups in Central Illinois say they felt a deep connection to the slain conservative activist Charlie Kirk and that his death with further galvanize his movement.
Dr. Morgan Riley, 27, a chiropractor from Bloomington, is also vice president of the McLean County Young Republicans, a new organization that’s separate from the McLean County GOP. Riley was there in person when Kirk visited Illinois State University in April, drawing a large crowd for one of his signature college-campus visits. Kirk was on another college visit when he was fatally shot in Utah.
Riley said, for him, Kirk’s killing hits “closer to home” than, say, the attempted assassination of President Trump in Pennsylvania. That’s because there’s so much overlap between Kirk’s life and his own, and Riley said he knows dozens of people with the same viewpoint as Kirk.
“Charlie Kirk’s not considered a radical extremist in my mind,” Riley said on WGLT’s Sound Ideas. “We’re both Illinoisans, white, Christian males who are conservative.”
Kirk’s willingness to visit college campuses – which the right often portrays as unfriendly to conservatives – was part of the appeal, Riley said. Riley said there were times he felt uncomfortable as a conservative student at Illinois Wesleyan University.
“For Charlie to go on college campuses and be bold, and to almost be the wing that people are protected [under] — that’s really important to have that ‘no fear’ mentality on campuses, that was really big to young Republicans,” Riley told WGLT. (Riley said his answers reflect his own views, not necessarily the views of the McLean County Young Republicans.)
Dylan Steffen, 25, a farmer from Metamora, leads the new Central Illinois Young Republicans group that represents Tazewell and Woodford counties. He said Kirk “gave us a voice that we never had really before.” Kirk’s death has left him feeling “sadness, to a degree, and excitement for the future.”
“You took out one voice. Charlie led a movement that will build millions of us. We’ll stand up for the values he pushed. Not everything was agreeable that he said, by any means. We all have our disagreements. That’s the best part about being a Republican and a conservative. Our side, we agree to disagree on a lot of things. You don’t get that with the left.”
A group of conservatives gathered on the ISU Quad on Thursday for a prayer gathering in Kirk’s name. Kirk’s organization, Turning Point USA, has a chapter at ISU.
Getting into politics
Morgan moved back to Bloomington-Normal in 2023 after finishing school. He was motivated to get politically active, in part, by the passage of the 1% school sales tax in April.
“When that got passed, it felt like things were moving in a way that we didn’t really like, and we weren’t organized,” Riley said. “So a couple friends from church started talking about what can we do to give our time away and see if we can make a difference in the way we want to see it.”
Morgan then connected with Jasmyn Jordan, another young conservative who had also recently moved back to Bloomington-Normal after school. Jordan, who works at Breitbart, is chair of the McLean County Young Republicans.
Steffen made the choice to get more politically active about two years ago, driven largely by the pandemic which he said led to his own mother’s mental health problems due to isolation.
“I started to see things differently after COVID,” Steffen said.
There are indications Riley and Steffen are not alone – that more Gen Z men are drifting to the right, even as Gen Z women do not.
“We’ve been told we have to hate ourselves, especially if you fit my demographic – a white dude in America – the textbooks, the professors, are like, ‘Hate your ancestors. You should not be proud of what they’ve done,’” Riley said. “And I think people are sick and tired of being told they need to hate themselves.”
Steffen agreed. He said Gen Z men are looking for purpose.
“They see a government that is collapsing in some senses. That doesn’t care about them. They can’t afford homes. I don’t know what you expect to happen when one side villainizes us, and the other says, ‘No man, you’re good. You’re not a victim, you’re a victor. And we’re gonna get through this. There’s more purpose to your life,'" Steffen said, adding his faith helped him find purpose.
Young Republican groups
The Young Republican groups are trying to capitalize on that. They’re new, forming this year. They are separate organizations from regular county GOP organizations, although they often work together.
“You see who’s involved in the McLean County GOP, and they’re self-admittedly an older group, and they’re looking for a little more energy and for young people to step in,” Riley said. “There’s a ton of young professionals in this town that have yet to have a group to come to.”
Steffen puts it this way: “Politics is an old person’s game, it seems like. So to have our own [organization] within the GOP is critical to getting new voices out there."
Riley said the mission is “recruit, train, and elect,” meaning they’ll get people into the organization, train them to campaign, and then get them elected on school boards and city councils.
“Success to us looks like getting more young people involved, and getting them into local politics as much as possible,” said Steffen, who is running for Woodford County Board in the 2026 election.
