Lawmakers in the Arizona legislature have advanced a bill that would rename Phoenix’s Loop 202 in honor of the conservative leader Charlie Kirk.
Arizona lawmakers have approved a bill to rename the 202 loop freeway after Charlie Kirk.
— AF Post (@AFpost) February 22, 2026
Follow: @AFpost pic.twitter.com/UDFmmG7K3p
The legislation will designate the freeway as the “Charlie Kirk Loop 202” and will encompass the entirety of the 78-mile roadway. The bill has passed in the Arizona Senate along party lines, and will now move to the House for further approval, where Republicans have a majority. Once again, the vote is expected to land along party lines. Another bill to create a Turning Point license plate is moving alongside the highway renaming.
Democrats have seemingly claimed that their reasoning behind not voting for the bill is due to a Republican state senator who quietly exited the floor during a moment of silence for Jesse Jackson. The question looms as to whether or not Gov. Katie Hobbs will sign either of the bills. When reached out to by local outlets, her office has declined to comment on the matter.
Note the Senator leaving out the double doors as the moment of silence for Rev. Jesse Jackson begins.
— Arizona Senate Democrats (@AZSenateDems) February 19, 2026
It’s Senator Hoffman.
That was yesterday.
Today, he asked that the Senate pass two bills to honor Charlie Kirk. While he asked for respect for his friend, he showed little… pic.twitter.com/wixHAI3dO4
Should we expect that she vetoes at least one of the bills? The fact that she declined to even comment isn’t a good sign. Every Democrat standing in opposition of the bill certainly isn’t either. Hobbs didn't even attend the memorial of Kirk, claiming that she wasn't invited despite it being well publicized that the event was public.
One indication that she may be willing to play ball is her public rebuke of Arizona Attorney General Kris Mayes, who made comments where she seemingly pondered how leftist radicals could justifiably kill masked federal agents.
Should Hobbs exercise her veto, Turning Point Action would certainly up their ground game to the point of running her out of office. The public pressure on Hobbs is, and should be, immense. If Democrats can’t allow a highway to be renamed after a beloved public figure who had his life stolen by an assassin’s bullet just because he was allied with President Trump, what would they do if they returned to the White House?