>>> WE’VE BEEN FOLLOWING THE
CAMPAIGN, AND THERE HAVE BEEN
SOME REPORTS ABOUT POSSIBLE
CONNECTIONS WITH WHITE
SUPREMACY.
COULD YOU TELL US ABOUT THAT?
AND THEN CONNIE PULLS OUT HER
SIGN.
SO THIS ISN’T YOU.
AND THEN HIS FACE TURNED BEAT
RED.
HE GOES OH, THAT’S WHAT IT HAD
IS ABOUT?
>> THAT’S CONNIE VIGORS AND
NANCY PRESNALL.
TWO OF THE WOMEN WHO HELPED
SPEARHEAD THE EFFORTS TO RECALL
ENID, OKLAHOMA CITY COUNCIL
MEMBER.
AFTER DISCOVERING A PHOTO OF
HIM MARCHING WITH THE TIKI
TORCH, THE TWO WOMEN SAY THEY
KNEW THEY HAD TO DO SOMETHING.
ALONG WITH THE GROUP THEY
FORMED TO RECALL BLEVINS, THEY
ORGANIZED A SIGNATURE DRIVE
THAT SECURED HUNDREDS OF
SIGNATURES, WHICH WAS MORE THAN
NECESSARY TO SPARK TODAY’S
RECALL VOTE.
AND NOW TONIGHT THANKS TO THAT
VOTE, BLEVINS IS OUT OF THE
ENID CITY COUNCIL, HE’LL BE
REPLACED BY REPUBLICAN CHERYL
PATTERSON.
JOINING ME NOW IS BRANDY, NBC
NEWS SENIOR REPORTER LIVE FROM
THE RECALL WATCH PARTY IN ENID,
OKLAHOMA.
THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR JUST
PUTTING THIS ON OUR RADAR,
BEING LIVE ON THE SCENE AS THE
RESULTS ARE COMING IN HERE.
TO WHAT DEGREE?
CAN YOU GIVE US THE PICTURE OF
THE GRASSROOTS EFFORTS TO OUST
THEM FROM THE CITY COUNCIL?
>> YEAH.
YOU CAN TAKE A LOOK AT THIS
ROOM.
I’M AT THE WATCH PARTY OF THE
SOCIAL JUSTICE COMMITTEE.
A SMALL GROUP OF PEOPLE WHO
HAVE HAD A HUGE AFFECT ON THEIR
COMMUNITY ESPECIALLY IN TERMS
OF WHITE SUPREMACY AND
EXTREMISM.
NOW THE FOLKS AROUND ME ARE ALL
VERY DIFFERENT.
THEY HAVE DIFFERENT IDEAS.
SOME OF THEM ARE DEMOCRATS.
SOME ARE VERY PROGRESSIVE.
BUT THEY HAVE COME TOGETHER AND
THEY CAME TOGETHER IN 2013 WHEN
HE WAS ELECTED.
NOW WE KNEW A LITTLE BIT ABOUT
HIS PAST, SOME STUFF WAS ON THE
INTERNET.
BUT THESE ARE THE FOLKS THAT
YOU WOULD JUST SHOW CONNIE AND
NANCY.
THE FOLKS WHO REALLY JUST
WOULDN’T LET GO.
THEY KEPT GOING TO CITY COUNCIL
MEETINGS, HOLDING THE PICTURE
HIM UP.
THEY WOULDN’T LET IT GO.
AND NOW FOR ME AND FOR ALL THE
PEOPLE HERE, IT JUST SHOWS THE
POWER OF WHAT A SMALL GROUP OF
ORGANIZED PEOPLE WITH A GOAL
CAN DO.
>> SO JUST TO BE CLEAR, I THINK
YOU SAID 2013, BUT BLEVINS HAS
BEEN IN OFFICE SINCE 2023 I
BELIEVE.
AND ENID, I BELIEVE REPUBLICANS
HAVE A FOUR TO ONE ADVANTAGE IN
VOTER REGISTRATION.
WHITE GRIEVANCE IS A CENTRAL
PART OF THEIR PLATFORM AT THIS
STAGE.
I WONDER FROM YOUR REPORTING
WHETHER YOU’VE GOTTEN THE SENSE
THAT THIS KIND OF WHITE
SUPREMACY AND THE GREAT
REPLACEMENT THEORY THAT IS VERY
MUCH SOMETHING THAT MR. BLEVINS
EMBRACED, WHETHER THAT ACTUALLY
DIDN’T FIND FAVOR WITHIN THE
REPUBLICANS, THE REPUBLICAN
COMMUNITY IN ENID OR WHETHER
THIS IS LARGELY A DEMOCRATIC
PROGRESSIVE GRASSROOTS EFFORT.
>> Reporter: THAT’S A PART OF
THE STORY THAT IS A PART OF
THIS WIN FOR PROGRESSIVES HERE.
THEY COULDN’T HAVE DONE IT
ALONE, RIGHT?
THERE ARE CONSERVATIVE
REPUBLICANS IN ENID INCLUDING
THE MAYOR, CHERYL PATTERSON WHO
JUST WON THE SEAT, WHO ARE
CONSERVATIVE REPUBLICANS.
BUT WHO CAN RECOGNIZE EXTREMISM
WHEN THEY SAW IT AND SAID THIS
IS A BRIDGE TOO FAR.
WE DON’T WANT NAZIS IN OUR CITY
COUNCIL, WHICH SEEMS KIND OF
LIKE A LOW BAR, BUT AN
IMPORTANT LINE TO DRAW.
IT’S WORTH SAYING THAT BLEVINS
LOST THIS RACE.
HE LOST IT HANDEDLY BY A 20-
POINT MARGIN.
BUT STILL, 1,400 PEOPLE VOTED,
RIGHT?
THERE WAS 30 SOMETHING PERCENT
OF THE PEOPLE WHO DID VOTE FOR
BLEVINS EVEN KNOWING ALL THIS
STUFF.
WHEN YOU TALK ABOUT WHITE
GRIEVANCE AND THE FACT THESE
HAVE MAINSTREAM SUPPORT IN THE
REPUBLICAN PARTY, YOU’RE NOT
WRONG.
BUT AGAIN IT DOES SHOW WHAT
HAPPENS WHEN PROGRESSIVE FOLKS,
DEMOCRATS, REPUBLICANS WHO SAY
THIS IS A BRIDGE TOO FAR CAN
COME TOGETHER AND DRAW A LINE.
>> IT’S WORTH NOTING THIS IS
HAPPENING ON THE SAME NIGHT
THAT DONALD TRUMP IN MICHIGAN
IS CALLING UNDOCUMENTED
MIGRANTS ANIMALS, SUGGESTING A
WHOLE SUBSECTION OF AMERICAN
SOCIETY ARE SUBHUMAN.
I JUST WONDER IS THERE ANY
CONNECTION TOWARDS THAT SORT OF
POISON RHETORIC AND WHAT
BLEVINS STANDS FOR?
DO THEY SEE THESE THINGS AS
APPLES AND ORANGES, THE NEO-
NAZI TIES AND THIS PLATFORM
UPON WHICH TRUMP IS RUNNING?
>> I CAN ONLY TALK RIGHT NOW
ABOUT ENID, OKLAHOMA.
BUT I HAVE BEEN TALKING TO
CONSERVATIVE REPUBLICANS AT THE
POLLS ALL DAY.
MOST OF THE PEOPLE IN THE CITY
COUNCIL ARE ALL CONSERVATIVE
REPUBLICANS.
AND FOR THOSE FOLKS, I DO THINK
THAT THEY DEFINITELY CAN DRAW A
LINE BETWEEN THE THINGS THAT THEY SAW.
SUPREMACIST, TO THE THINGS THAT
THEY SEE IN MAINSTREAM
CONSERVATIVE POLITICS.
I’VE TALKED TO A BUNCH ABOUT
THAT VERY THING TODAY.
THEY SEE HERE THAT THERE IS
SOMETHING POISONOUS IN A
SECTION OF THE REPUBLICAN
PARTY, AND AT LEAST IN ENID
THEY WERE ABLE TO CUT IT OUT BECAUSE