Enid, Oklahoma voters boot city council member with white nationalist ties
Enid, Oklahoma — Voters in the northwest Oklahoma city of Enid ousted a City Council member who has ties to white nationalism, according to unofficial results posted Tuesday on the Oklahoma Election Board website.
With all four precincts reporting in Enid's Ward 1, results show voters chose to recall 42-year-old Judd Blevins. They instead selected Cheryl Patterson, a grandmother and longtime youth leader at an area church, to fill the seat.
Blevins, an Iraq War veteran, was narrowly elected to the seat last year despite his ties to white nationalist groups.
Blevins acknowledged at a community forum last week that he marched in the Unite the Right rally in Charlottesville, Virginia, in 2017. He also admitted being connected to the now-defunct white supremacist group Identity Evropa.
When asked at the forum to explain his involvement in the rally and his ties to Identity Evropa, he responded: "Bringing attention to the same issues that got Donald Trump elected in 2016: securing America's borders, reforming our legal immigration system and, quite frankly, pushing back on this anti-white hatred that is so common in media entertainment."
The recall effort in Oklahoma was launched by two longtime Enid residents, best friends Connie Vickers and Nancy Presnall, both Democrats, in a county where Republicans have a nearly 4-to-1 advantage in voter registration.
CBS Oklahoma City affiliate KWTV reports that in a statement about the results, Blevins said, "I first want to express my gratitude to my voters, volunteers, donors, and to everyone who has prayed for me and supported me. It took a coalition of leftists and moderates, an all out media blitz from local, state, and national outlets, and scare tactics about the future of Vance AFB, unfounded in any truth or reality, yet shamefully endorsed by the establishment, to remove a true conservative from office. So be it. This was a trial not just for me, but for many in this community. And many have shown who they really serve. I have fought the good fight. I have finished the race. I have kept the faith."