Spotted at a White-Power Rally, but Still Popular With Campus Republicans

James Allsup, the former Republican club president at Washington State University who stepped down this year after being spotted at a white-power rally in Virginia, said on Thursday that he had been re-elected to lead the chapter.

“I have officially been re-elected as the President of the WSU College Republicans,” Mr. Allsup wrote on Twitter just after 9 p.m. local time. He attached an image of Pepe the Frog, the alt-right mascot.

But the WSU College Republicans on Friday issued a statement on Facebook saying that the vote had been “declared null and void” by their chapter adviser and the university office that supports campus organizations.

I have officially been re-elected as the President of the WSU College Republicans. pic.twitter.com/2jIXdjIxp6

— James Allsup (@realJamesAllsup) December 1, 2017

Amir Rezamand, the current president of the group, declined to elaborate on exactly what had happened. “I think the statement is very clear,” he told The Chronicle. “Nothing has changed.”

Mr. Allsup did indeed win a vote for the presidency of the WSU College Republicans, according to Brian Shuffield, the director of an office that oversees student activities at Washington State. But Mr. Allsup is slated to graduate this month, said Mr. Shuffield. According to university rules, people who are not currently enrolled as students cannot hold leadership positions in student organizations.

Mr. Allsup did not immediately respond to messages sent to his email and Facebook accounts.

Even though the vote at Washington State didn’t count, Mr. Allsup’s success in winning over his fellow students despite being shamed by the national Republican group is the latest twist in the two-year story of how President Trump’s youngest fans may be reshaping the politics of young conservatives.

Mr. Allsup faced pressure to step down from the Republican club presidency in August, shortly after pictures of his face illuminated by torchlight surfaced online. He had marched on the University of Virginia with a group of protesters on the eve of a “Unite the Right” rally in Charlottesville. Those protesters caused a national spectacle by carrying tiki torches, chanting Nazi slogans, and clashing with counter protesters.

Mr. Allsup, already a popular figure on social media known for his ethnonationalist views, previously had tweeted that he was slated to speak at the Unite the Right rally. He later told a Washington news outlet that he condemned racism.

After Charlottesville, the College Republican National Committee called for the immediate resignation of “leaders in our organization who may support or condone these events.”

Mr. Allsup resigned as head of the WSU College Republicans, but his appearance at the Charlottesville rally did not seem to hurt his popularity. The number of people following him on Twitter and YouTube has grown since then. Recently, the would-be Republican leader has vigorously supported Roy Moore, the Alabama Republican nominee for the U.S. Senate, amid accusations that he had repeatedly made aggressive sexual overtures to women and teenage girls.

“He’s going to disrupt the entire GOP establishment,” wrote Mr. Allsup with admiration, “and show that the mainstream media is powerless against insurgent candidates.”

Steve Kolowich writes about writes about ordinary people in extraordinary times, and extraordinary people in ordinary times. Follow him on Twitter @stevekolowich, or write to him at steve.kolowich@chronicle.com.