Northeast Colorado counties begin effort to secede and become 'North Colorado'

[Joe Republic]

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The article goes into more detail on their concerns.  Anyway, expect this to go nowhere of course.  I still find efforts to redraw the map interesting, however.

[Joe Republic]

The article also helpfully lists some of the other failed attempts across the country.  I really didn't realize it was quite this frequent.

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[○∙◄☻¥tπ[╪AV┼cVê└]

Californians always have bad timing for for their succession efforts.

California voted to split in two in 1859.
The State of Jefferson was proclaimed on November 27, 1941.

[muon2]

The article also helpfully lists some of the other failed attempts across the country.  I really didn't realize it was quite this frequent.

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The CO counties could join with the NE panhandle and both go to WY. That would at least bring the areas over the population for a CD.

[Brittain33]

Wait, a committee in Martha's Vineyard organized to have Nantucket secede from Massachusetts? LOL.

[True Federalist (진정한 연방 주의자)]

I could even see a West Colorado consisting of Colorado west of the Continental Divide being accepted as independent State.  It's smaller than 1/435 of the US apportionment population but larger than Wyoming.

As for northeast Colorado, the population of the proposed area is just way too small for a State. I could see Congress potentially accepting a smaller chunk of northeast Colorado joining Nebraska to fill in the angle, or even slicing off all of Colorado east of the Wyoming/Nebraska border and attaching to to Nebraska or Kansas depending on whether it was north or south of the Nebraska/Kansas border.  Those are fairly low population heavily Republican areas that might well be more comfortable politically in the States to their east than in a Democratic-trending Colorado.

Even if east and west Colorado as defined were taken away from Colorado, Colorado would only lose 1 CD.  West Colorado would have 1 CD, and Nebraska and Kansas would be unchanged, but less likely to lose CDs in future censuses.

[Kevinstat]

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The new proposed state would have been more than just Aroostook County.  The Legislator who used to submit those bills is Henry Joy, who served from 1992 to 2000 and 2002 to 2010.  He ran for Governor in 1998 as the conservative "movement" candidate, and finished a distant second to former Congressman Jim Longley, Jr., son of Maine's first Independent Governor.  What he said he wanted as the new state was often less than what was in the drafted bill, but I'm sure it was more than just Aroostook County.  I'll have to find versions of that bill online tomorrow and post the links here.  Proposed names for the new state included Acadia but also Maine, with the rest of Maine to be named "Northern Massachusetts" (I'm not kidding).

He used to also put in Constitutional resolutions to have 2 Senators per County.  I actually spoke against that in 2005, when I was woefully underemployed and had time to go to a hearing and get try to some digs in against a politician I had never met but had grown to rather intensely dislike, not so much because of anything he did but for the reverence a lot of people on a conservative web site I frequented held for him even though the manner of thinking that came across to me from reading testimony of his seemed rather base.  I asked what was more rural, Bath or Patten.  Bath, home of Bath Iron Works, is in Sagadahoc county which has well less than 1/32nd of Maine's population but would have 2 of Maine's 32 Senators under this plan, while the town of Patten, which was in Henry Joy's district, is in Penobscot County which had a little less than twice the average population for a county in Maine and would have lost representation under that constitutional amendment (if it wasn't promptly struck down in federal court which it would be).  I tried to focus my arguements on policy and basic fairness rather than constitutionality, as I know how irritating it is to hear "you can't do that, na na na na na na" (well, one's not likely to here that exactly in adult conversation, but something that basically comes across as that).

[politicallefty]

» California: One of the most common places for threats of secession. Most recently, conservative counties proposed a Southern California.

SoCal conservatives tried to gerrymander their own state:



The plan would've backfired in 2012, as Obama carried it (though less than 2008). It would've been a solidly Republican state for Bush, though.

Conservatives seems to have their own conception of Southern California, which just so happens to exclude Los Angeles County.

[○∙◄☻¥tπ[╪AV┼cVê└]

» California: One of the most common places for threats of secession. Most recently, conservative counties proposed a Southern California.

SoCal conservatives tried to gerrymander their own state:



The plan would've backfired in 2012, as Obama carried it (though less than 2008). It would've been a solidly Republican state for Bush, though.

Conservatives seems to have their own conception of Southern California, which just so happens to exclude Los Angeles County.

LOL, Mono county isn't particularly Republican these days. Anyways, I think they also had an idea to just have 5 counties, San Bernardino, and the 4 south of it, which would make less absurd shape for a state.

[minionofmidas]

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Of course, as long as they took Weld with them, nothing would change on that front. It has more than three-quarters of the population of this 'state'.

[Nhoj]

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Of course, as long as they took Weld with them, nothing would change on that front. It has more than three-quarters of the population of this 'state'.

Yeah weld county isn't what I would call particularly rural either.

[Fuzzybigfoot]

Endorsed

[Kevinstat]

To make it clear who said what (although it can be funny when this happens and goes through several quotes):

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Of course, as long as they took Weld with them, nothing would change on that front. It has more than three-quarters of the population of this 'state'.

Yeah weld county isn't what I would call particularly rural either.

[DINGO Joe]

Yes, every 350,000 people should have their own state.  Let's have 1000 states and 2000 senators.  Since it's all fantasy, let's go Games of Thrones on these attention whores and put their heads on a pike.

[minionofmidas]

330,000.

[Bandit3 the Worker]

It's just some right-wing crybabies throwing a tantrum.

[5280]

The pan handle of Nebraska is interested joining North Colorado now.

[Bandit3 the Worker]

The pan handle of Nebraska is interested joining North Colorado now.

How about if northeastern Colorado just joins Nebraska?

[Joe Republic]

The counties will vote on secession tomorrow.

Since this was first reported, more counties have joined in and one dropped out, so this what the weird-looking new state would look like:

[The Free North]

The counties will vote on secession tomorrow.

Since this was first reported, more counties have joined in and one dropped out, so this what the weird-looking new state would look like:

Love it

[Sol]

The counties will vote on secession tomorrow.

Since this was first reported, more counties have joined in and one dropped out, so this what the weird-looking new state would look like:

Love it

LOL at the noncontiguity.

[Bandit3 the Worker]

Does this have a chance of prevailing in any county?

[Indy Texas 🇺🇦🇵🇸]

If those counties were to become a separate state in their own right, they would almost certainly become net-recipients of federal funding since their own tax base couldn't support the fixed costs of running a state.

If they want to secede, they should be required to prove to Congress that they can pay for a minimum level of state services without federal help before they can be allowed to join the Union as a 51st state.

Either way, it sets a very bad precedent and if it works it could touch off a land rush of sorts for every state's various interest groups to try to carve off portions of their states for themselves.

[minionofmidas]

If those counties were to become a separate state in their own right, they would almost certainly become net-recipients of federal funding since their own tax base couldn't support the fixed costs of running a state.

If they want to secede, they should be required to prove to Congress that they can pay for a minimum level of state services without federal help before they can be allowed to join the Union as a 51st state.

Either way, it sets a very bad precedent and if it works it could touch off a land rush of sorts for every state's various interest groups to try to carve off portions of their states for themselves.

How about letting them secede, then not admitting them as a state? The Territory of North Colorado? How's it sound?

[Indy Texas 🇺🇦🇵🇸]

If those counties were to become a separate state in their own right, they would almost certainly become net-recipients of federal funding since their own tax base couldn't support the fixed costs of running a state.

If they want to secede, they should be required to prove to Congress that they can pay for a minimum level of state services without federal help before they can be allowed to join the Union as a 51st state.

Either way, it sets a very bad precedent and if it works it could touch off a land rush of sorts for every state's various interest groups to try to carve off portions of their states for themselves.

How about letting them secede, then not admitting them as a state? The Territory of North Colorado? How's it sound?

Then they would be represented by one non-voting delegate in Congress just like all those little islands in the Pacific no one knows or cares about.

I'm opposed to the US having territories of any kind. We need to follow the precedent of European countries in either cutting their imperial possessions loose altogether or fully integrating them into the mother country, as France did with French Guiana and the Netherlands has done with its Caribbean exclaves.