Washington County Weighs Renaming Highway for Charlie Kirk

Charlie Kirk speaking with attendees at the 2025 Student Action Summit at the Tampa Convention Center in Tampa, Florida. Photo by Gage Skidmore. Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0.

A portion of a Washington County road could soon be renamed to honor the late conservative activist Charlie Kirk.

The Washington County Executive Committee on Wednesday forwarded a resolution to the full county board to rename a portion of a county road “Charlie J. Kirk Way.” The County Board could vote on the resolution next month.

Kirk, 31, was killed in September during a speaking event in Utah. He was the founder of the conservative nonprofit Turning Point USA.

The decision by the executive committee came after residents opposed to the resolution packed the meeting room to voice their concerns. During the meeting, County Board Chair Jeffrey Schleif said he had received over 250 emails and phone calls against the measure.

A Change.org petition against the renaming of the road had around 225 signatures as of Thursday afternoon.

West Bend resident Geoffrey Rickaby said he was surprised when he saw the resolution. Rickaby said it would make more sense for the county to rename a road in honor of Olympic gold medalist Jordan Stolz, who is from Washington County.

“Why do we need a county road in honor of Charlie Kirk?” Rickaby said. “He has no ties to the area.”

A draft of the county resolution said the road would be renamed “to honor the life and work of Charlie Kirk which contributed to a broader national dialogue about the importance of protecting freedom of speech, defending constitutional rights, and preserving the values that have long defined the American experiment.”

Republican President Donald Trump got 67.4 percent of the vote in Washington County in the 2024 presidential election. Washington County Executive Josh Schoemann, who ran for governor as a Republican, said he believes Kirk’s death impacted many.

“And of course, Washington County being a very conservative place, I had a lot of neighbors and young people in particular — including my own sons — that were significantly impacted,” Schoemann said.

Washington County Executive Josh Schoemann was a Republican candidate for governor in 2026. Photo courtesy of Schoemann campaign

After Kirk’s death, Schoemann said he had “several conversations” with county board supervisors and his constituents about how to honor Kirk. The idea to name a county road in his honor was one of those ideas.

The 21-member Washington County Board could vote on April 21 on the resolution to rename a portion of Highway K in Addison, Hartford, Polk and West Bend in Washington County would be renamed “Charlie J. Kirk Way.” Signs along nearby Interstate 94 would be modified, as well as signs along the county highway, according to Schoemann.

The estimated cost of the signage is $50,000. Schoemann said no taxpayer dollars would be used for the signs. Instead, if the county board passes the resolution, he said the signs would be paid for through donations.

If the county board approves the renaming of the road, Schoemann estimated the signs could go up sometime in the summer. He said hundreds of people have also reached out to him about the road.

“And some of those folks have been offering to make contributions to make it happen,” he said.

Schoemann said communities across the nation name roads for people of “local notoriety, of national and international notoriety.”

“And this one is no different,” Schoemann said. “What … we really need to discuss and debate in a civil manner, is the time, the person, the location and the appropriateness of the naming.”

Washington County road could soon be renamed Charlie J. Kirk Way was originally published by Wisconsin Public Radio.