Enid city commissioner to face recall election after white nationalist allegations surface

Alexia Aston, The Oklahoman
Updated ·2 min read
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Left to right: Enid City Commissioner Derwin Norwood, Commissioner Judd Blevins, Mayor David Mason and Commissioner Ron Stallings, take their oaths of office May 1, 2023, during the city council meeting at Enid City Hall.
Left to right: Enid City Commissioner Derwin Norwood, Commissioner Judd Blevins, Mayor David Mason and Commissioner Ron Stallings, take their oaths of office May 1, 2023, during the city council meeting at Enid City Hall.

An Oklahoman in Enid is gaining national attention after NBC News published a story about the city commissioner.

The man, Judd Blevins, 42, represents Enid's Ward 1 commissioner seat, and some of the city's residents want to remove him from office amid claims he's tied to a white nationalist group.

Here's everything we know.

Who is Judd Blevins?

Judd Blevins was elected to the Ward 1 seat in February 2023 by a mere 36 votes — 422 to 386.

Blevins’ campaign material said he was a Marine who returned home to take over the family business. Blevins touted his Republican credentials in the non-partisan council race.

More: An Oklahoma town has been struggling with voter apathy, white nationalism on a national stage

Judd Blevins' alleged ties to white supremacy group

After Blevins announced his bid for office, the Enid News & Eagle published a story about Blevins quoting several groups who said he was a white nationalist. The newspaper was criticized, and several of Blevins' supporters went public with their defense.

The Enid News & Eagle's reporting surfaced an article written in March 2019 for Right Wing Watch, a research project of People for the American Way, which accused Blevins of being the Oklahoma state coordinator for Identity Evropa — identified as a white nationalist group by the Southern Poverty Law Center — which was formed in 2016, renamed to American Identity Movement in 2019 and disbanded in 2020.

Enid News & Eagle reported that Blevins refused to comment on the accusations, but did provide a statement via email calling the publication a "George Soros funded leftist outlet."

Can Enid remove Judd Blevins from office?

In October 2023, the group Enid Social Justice Committee launched a recall petition in an effort to oust Blevins.

The group said it launched the petition to "correct a grievous error." Organizer Kristi Balden, the group's chair, said the residents of Ward 1 weren't informed about who Blevins was and that voters deserved to make a new decision on him.

Now, a recall election is set for April 2. If he's voted out, Blevins would be replaced by Cheryl Patterson, the only other person in the race for Ward 1 in Enid.

Judd Blevins responds to recall election

In a text to The Oklahoman about the recall election, Blevins said:

"I could have chosen the easy way out. I could have caved in to the demands of insane leftists, like most other elected officials would have. But I chose to place my future in the hands of voters because I am confident they are going to re-affirm the decision they made a year ago. That I am the best to represent them."

This article originally appeared on Oklahoman: Enid's Judd Blevins to face recall election amid white supremacy claim