One Woman Stood Up Against Hate and Was Stunned by How Many Stood With Her. Her Story Is an Inspiration to Us All

Judd Blevins was a candidate for Enid, Oklahoma City Council when fellow Enid resident, Connie Vickers, came across a photo of Blevins participating in the 2017 white nationalist rally in Charlottesville, Virginia. Vickers took the picture and her best friend Nancy Presnall to a forum where Blevins was campaigning. They confronted Blevins after the event, but they didn’t get an answer before he was whisked away by his campaign manager. 

Two weeks later, Blevins won his race by just 36 votes. He had presented himself as a God-fearing veteran and local businessman, committed to preserving "traditional values" in the rapidly diversifying and conservative city of Enid. Voters were either unaware or indifferent to Blevins’ white nationalist ties—not to mention only 15% of eligible voters had turned out at all.

While his campaign was successful, his win didn’t sit well with many. In March 2023, around 100 people, including Vickers and Presnall, formed the Enid Social Justice Committee aligned on their first order of business: recalling Judd Blevins. What followed was “a fight for the very soul of Enid that would unite a coalition of its most progressive residents, divide its conservatives and show the power of community organizing.”

Earlier this month Judd Blevins was successfully removed from City Council.