Posted on February 15, 2023

City Candidate Accused of White Nationalist Ties

Kelci McKendrick, Enid News & Eagle, January 7, 2023

A candidate for Enid City Commission was accused nearly four years ago by a progressive advocacy group of being a member of a white nationalist organization that has since disbanded.

The candidate, Judson Blevins, said the accusations were part of hit piece by what he called a “leftist outlet.” Blevins is running for the Ward 1 seat on Enid City Commission.

An article written in March 2019 for Right Wing Watch, a research project of People for the American Way, accused Blevins of being the Oklahoma state coordinator for Identity Evropa — identified as a white nationalist group by the Southern Poverty Law Center — formed in 2016, renamed to American Identity Movement in 2019 and disbanded in 2020.

Blevins announced his candidacy for the Ward 1 position in November 2022 and officially filed as a candidate in December, but he declined an interview with the News & Eagle regarding the article and his involvement with Identity Evropa.

After Blevins declined an interview with the News & Eagle, he did provide a statement in an email on Friday, Dec. 30.

“I think we can all see this for what it is, a hit piece posted four years ago by a George Soros funded leftist outlet,” Blevins said in the statement. “This is the same outlet that has attacked Governor Kevin Stitt for expressing his Christian faith. They were smears then and they are smears now. The labels applied to me are the same applied to any American who speaks out against the ruling liberal establishment. I am proud to have served this country honorably and defended our rights in the United States Marine Corps. I am absolutely opposed to the erasure of America’s history and heritage.”

{snip}

According to Blevins’ press release announcing his candidacy for the Ward 1 seat, he spent many summers working for his father’s roofing company in Enid, and, after being honorably discharged from the U.S. Marine Corps, he returned to Enid to take over the family business.

{snip}

The nonpartisan, general city election will be Feb. 14, 2023. Blevins is running against incumbent commissioner Jerry Allen for the Ward 1 seat.

[Editor’s note: Judson Blevins won the seat for city commission on Tuesday.]