Eastern Oregon is conservative. Do you need proof?
The eastern part of Oregon wants to join Idaho, thus the Great Idaho Movement. The website explains:
Counties can become a part of Idaho. State lines have been relocated many times in American history because it just takes an interstate compact between two state legislatures and approval of Congress.If the United States were governed as a single state, we wouldn’t have the opportunity for state governance to vary according to the culture of a local area. The purpose of having state lines is to allow this variance. The Oregon/Idaho border was established 163 years ago and is now outdated. It makes no sense in its current location because it doesn’t match the location of the cultural divide in Oregon. The Oregon/Washington border was updated in 1958. It’s time to move other borders.Areas that vote like Idaho does, and are economically healthy enough to be welcomed by Idaho are: eastern, southern, and most of central Oregon, southeastern Washington, and northeastern California.This proposal is different from creating a new state because it does not affect the balance of power in the US Senate. This means that it’s more likely to be approved by the Oregon Legislature.Our proposal is a win-win for the interests of each state legislature, and for the counties that get to switch states.
Well, two more eastern Oregon counties voted to join the Greater Idaho movement. Yes this exists:
Its purpose is to convince state legislatures to move the Oregon-Idaho border, turning conservative counties of Oregon into counties of Idaho.In a Wednesday news release, the movement said it had seen victory in Morrow and Wheeler counties, clinching 60% and 58% of the votes as of that morning, respectively.Its website showed May election results in all three counties that voted on the issue had improved by 4 percentage points after election night due to the slow counting in the state’s elections and the tendency of proponents to vote on Election Day.
Can you blame them? We know what it’s like in Portland:
“We call on the legislature to let each half of the state go their separate ways in peace. If western Oregon doesn’t like the risk of being forced to accept the gubernatorial candidate it voted against, then it should simply stop holding our counties captive in this unhappy marriage. Actually, it’s not even as dramatic as a divorce, because we’re not breaking up a family. Moving a state border is similar to redistricting a utility provider,” [Movement Leader Mike] McCarter said.”The movement is plain and simple, and all about values, not politics,” Boardman, Oregon, farmer Jonathan Tallman, 46, told the New York Post on Thursday. “We don’t relate to people in downtown Portland trying to push their agenda on us.”
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