Another County Votes to Secede From Blue State

(UnitedVoice.com) – Conservatives in Oregon are pushing to change the state’s boundaries. Voters in some of the rural districts feel as though Idaho’s values better represent them and want to make their state much smaller. Another county has now jumped on board.

On Tuesday, May 21, voters headed to the polls in Oregon’s primary election. As of Thursday evening, 53.4% of voters in Crook County approved measure 07-86. The measure supports the “Greater Idaho” initiative that seeks to move the state lines and give Eastern Oregon to Idaho.

The Republican voters in the region have long argued that the Democratic Party doesn’t represent their values. However, since the state has more Liberals than it does Conservatives, mostly centered in the larger cities, voters keep electing Democratic governors. A Republican has not led the state since the mid-’90s.

Idaho voters have not passed a similar measure. However, in February 2023, the Idaho House of Representatives approved a bill giving lawmakers permission to allow the legislators in both states to start formerly discussing the possibility.

Mike McCarter, the president of the Greater Idaho movement, said they’d been going straight to voters to allow them to have a say in what they want their state governments to do. He said they are telling them that “they want their leaders to move the border.” McCarter claimed that in America, citizens are the ones in charge, and their political leaders should start following through and giving them what they want.

Crook County is the 13th county to approve the measure to move the border. The other counties that have voted to approve similar measures are Klamath, Harney, Jackson, Lake, Malheur, Grant, Baker, Jefferson, Wheeler, Union, Wallowa, and Morrow.

Moving state lines isn’t as simple as just passing a measure. The state legislatures must approve it, then it has to go to the US Congress for a vote. Democrats are currently in control of Oregon’s legislature, so it’s highly unlikely they will ever allow the boundaries to change while they’re in power.