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A Florida Republican lawmaker has proposed renaming a stretch of a state road in Miami-Dade after the slain conservative activist Charlie Kirk.
On September 23, State Rep. Juan Carlos Porras (R-Miami) filed HB 33, which seeks to designate part of State Road 985/Southwest 107th Avenue — the stretch between Southwest 24th Street and State Road 90/Southwest 8th Street, in front of Florida International University’s (FIU) main campus — as “Charlie Kirk Memorial Avenue.” Kirk, a right-wing commentator, was shot and killed earlier this month during a speaking tour stop at Utah Valley University.
If passed, the bill would take effect in July 2026 and also direct the Florida Department of Transportation to “erect suitable markers designating Charlie Kirk Memorial Avenue.”
“Proud to file HB 33 to designate Charlie Kirk Memorial Avenue in Miami-Dade County right outside @FIU,” Porras wrote in a post on X (formerly known as Twitter). “Charlie and I founded the first @TPUSA chapter in FL back in 2015 where this road is going to be, now it will honor his legacy.”
In 2012, Kirk founded Turning Point USA (TPUSA), a far-right group that promotes conservative values on high school, college, and university campuses. In 2015, Porras says he and Kirk founded Florida’s first chapter of Turning Point USA at FIU in Miami.
On September 15, just days after Kirk’s assassination, more than 700 FIU students gathered on campus for a vigil honoring Kirk.
Porras filed HB 33 the same day that commissioners in Lake County, near Orlando, unanimously voted to designate a highway in memory of Kirk. A week earlier, on September 17, commissioners in Escambia County, Florida’s westernmost county, unanimously rejected a proposal to rename a Pensacola street after Kirk.
Florida and its municipalities have a long history of renaming roadways after conservative figures.
In 2023, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis signed a bill renaming a portion of a road in Hernando County “Rush Limbaugh Way” after the late conservative radio host.
In late 2024, Miami-Dade commissioners voted overwhelmingly to rename Palm Avenue in Hialeah “President Donald J. Trump Avenue.” And earlier this month, the Town of Palm Beach voted to rename a stretch of road near the president’s Mar-a-Lago home “President Donald J. Trump Boulevard.”
