Voters in Enid, Oklahoma, oust city council member with ties to white nationalism

ENID, Oklahoma (AP) — Voters in the northwest Oklahoma city of Enid ousted a city council member with 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.