Enid OK elected a white nationalist city councilman. Now they're trying to recall him (April 2).

[GeorgiaModerate]

Long, interesting article about the upcoming (April 2) recall election for Enid, Oklahoma, city council member Judd Blevins, a member of the alt-right group Identity Evropa and a marcher in the 2017 Charlottesville "Unite the Right" rally.  Worth the time to read the whole thing.

https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/oklahoma-recall-vote-judd-blevins-enid-city-council-rcna143041

[Arizona Iced Tea]

I'm not blaming the voters, but people need to do more research when it comes to local candidates in municipal races. There are tons of weirdos who can actually win those races because 99% of America is focused on Trump vs Biden.

[GP270watch]

   They had a report in the local paper and he's been named as a devout white supremacist for years.

Wade Burleson, former president of the Southern Baptists of Oklahoma and a retired pastor of Enid’s largest church, was an early supporter of Blevins on Facebook. Burleson, who also sits on the faith advisory committee of the state’s controversial school Superintendent Ryan Walters, said attempts to unseat Blevins are a “race-bait trap,” an attempt by “communists” and the “mainstream media” to “divide the world over race.”

 Also anytime your excuse for not being a white supremacist is "something, something George Soros" you're not fooling anybody.

[Indy Texas]

I'm not blaming the voters, but people need to do more research when it comes to local candidates in municipal races. There are tons of weirdos who can actually win those races because 99% of America is focused on Trump vs Biden.

I actually oppose recall elections for this reason. Every recent recall election I can think of basically involved the official in question doing exactly what they/their party ran on and the voters being shocked by that (Scott Walker, Chesa Boudin, etc). If you didn't want the leopards to eat people's faces, you shouldn't have voted for the Leopards Eating People's Faces party. You're stuck with them for the next 2-4 years.

[Diabolical Materialism]

Judd Blevins is the most white nationalist name I can think of, how did these voters not look at their ballot and immediately know?

[H.E. VOLODYMYR ZELENKSYY]

The only black member of the council (a Republican) stood up during a debate over a censure motion and said the Holy Spirit had told him to forgive Blevins, without Blevins’s asking for it or displaying any contrition.

[DrScholl]

He has refused to publicly acknowledge his involvement with White supremacy so how can he be forgiven for what he doesn't even want to be open about? He hasn't even apologized for it, yet the resident Black Republican gave him an out for the city council to vote down the censure. I'm a big believer in grace to a certain extent but only when the person is actually sorry. But religion doesn't belong in government because grace shouldn't be a defining factor in accountability.

[DaleCooper]

I'm not blaming the voters,

Why not? This is 100% their fault. They deserve to be blamed for it and they should be f-cking embarrassed.

[Badger]

The only black member of the council (a Republican) stood up during a debate over a censure motion and said the Holy Spirit had told him to forgive Blevins, without Blevins’s asking for it or displaying any contrition.

Yeah, that's some serious self-debasement for politics there. Stand up for yourself dude

[ProudModerate2]

I read the entire article, and came here to start a thread on the topic.
Glad someone took the time to do it.
I'm interested to see what happens on April 2nd ... the day of the recall election (I believe they will also vote to replace this POS, on the same day.)

[ProudModerate2]

Reminder: Recall election will be tomorrow.

Here is a recent PBS News video ...
https://www.pbs.org/newshour/show/oklahoma-city-commissioner-faces-recall-election-over-ties-to-white-nationalism

[GeorgiaModerate]

CNN article today on the recall election:

https://www.cnn.com/2024/04/02/us/enid-oklahoma-council-special-election-charlottesville-rally/index.html

Notably, Derwin Norwood, the Black councilman who earlier defended Blevins, seems to no longer be in his corner:

Norwood, speaking to CNN months after his public embrace of Blevins, was also in the audience at the candidate forum last week and felt Blevins didn’t do himself any favors.

He said the election is in the hands of the voters, and he’s tried not to weigh in with his opinions too much.

But he worries about the tension in Enid growing even thicker if Blevins keeps his seat, saying Blevins could become “known nationally for hatred.”

“If Ms. Cheryl Patterson wins it, I believe there’d be a healing process,” he said. “But if Blevins stays on the council and Ward 1 votes him in, it’s going to be like a wound with a Band-Aid being ripped off.”

[Gass3268]

I'm not blaming the voters,

Why not? This is 100% their fault. They deserve to be blamed for it and they should be f-cking embarrassed.

The blame goes to the complete gutting of local media that focuses on local issues/races.

[Tintrlvr]

Notably, Derwin Norwood, the Black councilman who earlier defended Blevins, seems to no longer be in his corner:

Norwood, speaking to CNN months after his public embrace of Blevins, was also in the audience at the candidate forum last week and felt Blevins didn’t do himself any favors.

He said the election is in the hands of the voters, and he’s tried not to weigh in with his opinions too much.

But he worries about the tension in Enid growing even thicker if Blevins keeps his seat, saying Blevins could become “known nationally for hatred.”

“If Ms. Cheryl Patterson wins it, I believe there’d be a healing process,” he said. “But if Blevins stays on the council and Ward 1 votes him in, it’s going to be like a wound with a Band-Aid being ripped off.”

This dude sounds like the mental equivalent of a box of rocks.

[GeorgiaModerate]

Blevins has been recalled, losing to Cheryl Patterson 829-561.

https://www.koco.com/article/oklahoma-election-results-april-2-judd-blevins/60357702

[Progressive Pessimist]

Blevins has been recalled, losing to Cheryl Patterson 829-561.

https://www.koco.com/article/oklahoma-election-results-april-2-judd-blevins/60357702

Good to see, but 561 is still way too many votes.

[ProudModerate2]

[ProudModerate2]

Blevins has been recalled, losing to Cheryl Patterson 829-561.

https://www.koco.com/article/oklahoma-election-results-april-2-judd-blevins/60357702

Good to see, but 561 is still way too many votes.

It's Oklahoma. Do I need to say more.

[ProudModerate2]

Moderately long article on the results, and a summary of all the controversy, on NBC website if you are interested.

https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/oklahoma-judd-blevins-enid-city-council-recall-election-rcna146029

Blevins said that if he lost, he had no plans to run again. “I just go back to private life,” he said. “Life goes on.”

Blevins released a statement Tuesday evening saying that the race had been “a trial not just for me, but for many in this community.” He added, “I have finished the race. I have kept the faith.”

[GM Team Member and Senator WB]

still too close, but thank goodness he's gone.

[GP270watch]

Looks like women voters saved the day.

[No War, but the War on Christmas]

Members of the ESJC met up downtown for a BYOB party Tuesday night at Jezebel’s, a tea house and event space, to watch election results roll in.

Two dozen people milled around, listening to a mix of protest songs that ESJC’s vice chair, James Neal, had made for the occasion. They ate caramel popcorn and cocktail sausages from a slow cooker and drank Irish whiskey and wine and, every few minutes, refreshed the Oklahoma State Election Board’s website on a big screen.   

At 8:14 p.m., the webpage showed that Blevins had lost.

“We did it,” Kristi Balden, chair of the ESJC, said to claps and screams.

The lesson, she said, was that a small group anywhere could fight extremism. “You can do this because we did this. We didn’t even know what we were doing, and we did this. This is possible.”

Awesome. It's gonna take regular people like this to save this country.

Good work freedom fighters.

[Progressive Pessimist]

Looks like women voters saved the day.

As always. Hopefully they'll do the same for the entire country in November.