Seven Oregon Counties have voted to join Idaho in the past year. All of them have voted for Trump

[NewYorkExpress]

https://thehill.com/homenews/state-watch/554332-oregon-counties-vote-to-secede-to-idaho

Voters in five rural Oregon counties approved measures on Tuesday to consider joining the state of Idaho, a part of a long-shot grassroots movement to break with a state dominated by liberal voters west of the Cascade Mountains.

Voters in Malheur, Sherman, Grant, Baker and Lake counties all approved measures that would require county officials to take steps to promote moving the Idaho border west to incorporate their populations.

Oregon voters favored President Biden over former President Trump by a 56 percent to 40 percent margin in 2020, but voters in those five rural counties gave between 69 percent and 79 percent of the vote to Trump.

They join two other rural counties — Jefferson and Union — whose voters approved measures promoting a move to Idaho last year.

.....

Actually moving the lines would require a vote from the Oregon legislature, which is firmly controlled by Democrats. Oregon and Idaho would have to strike a formal deal, which would then need to be ratified by the U.S. Congress.

[GlobeSoc]

Moving the Oregon border without moving the Washington border a similar amount would look very ugly

[P. Clodius Pulcher did nothing wrong]

If we saw a similar article about liberals in Indiana or Florida wanting to abandon their state for something more politically aligned with them, there would be a flood of folks on here mocking them and calling them completely ridiculous. But this story gets crickets (as should the other side)

[Skill and Chance]

LOL the net effect of this would be to eliminate a likely R-leaning OR-06 and create a D-leaning ID-03 in Boise (the state has a redistricting commission in the constitution). 

[Holmes]

Oregon would sooner pay these people's relocation fees to Idaho than cede land. There's a lot of natural resources in that land that the state makes money off of.

[DINGO Joe]

Yeah, the headline really isn't even accurate

Sherman County’s ballot initiative required county commissioners to promote realigning the borders. The other four counties require commissioners to meet a few times a year to discuss the prospects of moving state lines.

Just a bunch of mud eating poseurs

[Crumpets]

Eastern Washington and Eastern Oregon will not be immune from the same growth that's happening in Boise and Salt Lake City. Heck, it's already starting in Tri-Cities and Walla Walla. Combine that with the collapse in support for Democrats on the coast, and the days of the "east-west" divide in both states look like they may be coming to a close within the next couple decades.

[Xing]

Sure, they can join Idaho, if the Northern Florida counties can join Alabama. Deal?

[pbrower2a]

Maybe Michigan could pick up Lucas County, Ohio (Toledo) and St. Joseph County, Indiana (South Bend) while giving up very rural Cass, St. Joseph, Branch, and Hillsdale Counties. Michigan would not need to rename the "St. Joseph County" that it would pick up because it would no longer have its old St. Joseph County.

Cass, St. Joseph, and Branch Counties in Michigan are much more like neighboring Indiana and Hillsdale County is much more like northwestern Ohio than like any other parts of Michigan. 

[DINGO Joe]

Amusingly, the ballot measures did worst in the counties bordering Idaho where they only got 57% in Baker and 54% in Malheur.  Compared to Trump getting 74 and 69 respectively.

[Nyvin]

Those five counties have a combined population of around 63k people, three of the five have declining populations.

A group of people that small shouldn't be able to dictate how a state's borders get carved up.

[Interlocutor is just not there yet]

I know this has a 0.1% chance of happening, but I'm on the Move Oregon’s Border for a Greater Idaho website and these answers in the FAQs made me laugh:


Q: Why don’t you just move to Idaho?

A: We love our communities. It’s just the state government we can’t stand. We love Idaho law and low Idaho taxes.We’ve invested years into relationships with friends, family, employers, churches, shops, and the land. Our counties vote conservative. It makes more sense for conservative counties to be under Idaho governance than Oregon governance. Do you want all of us unhappy conservatives to build new housing in another state? Moving state borders is cheaper. Thousands of Californians made this state blue, but you want the conservatives whose families founded this state to move out?


Q: Your poor, Trump-voting counties would be even poorer without state money from Salem

A: Conservative counties don’t want to be dependent on the charity of the welfare state that Salem forces on them. They will be happy to have state spending like Idaho’s. People who want to live off of welfare are welcome to move to another county. We want an economy that is not held back by Oregon regulations and taxes, including environmental regulations. We’ll still have federal and Idaho regulations, and that’s plenty. Idaho knows how to respect rural counties and their livelihoods.


So it's not fair for Trump voters to have to move away from a solid blue state but totally fair for the folks destitute enough to receive state benefits? Also, poor Ashland who'd be dragged kicking & screaming under this plan.

[Damocles]

Just a f#%king clown show. The territorial integrity clause of the 1789 constitution states that no new states shall be created from the territory of another state, that no states shall merge or be broken apart, and that no territory shall be transferred from state to state, without the consent of the legislatures of the states concerned, and the United States. This is nothing more than far-right-wing virtue signaling and screaming about not being able to control the levers of power. How ironic that they openly come out against the welfare state, and yet are totally dependent on it! It’s Brexiteer logic at work.

[Progressive Pessimist]

LOL the net effect of this would be to eliminate a likely R-leaning OR-06 and create a D-leaning ID-03 in Boise (the state has a redistricting commission in the constitution).  

Exactly. I say let them. But if this happens (which it won't). I would love to see some Democratic parts of red states secede and join other states like why not let Scott County, Iowa join Illinois. Hell, some in reverse would also be beneficial: let the Florida panhandles counties become part of Alabama, as Xing said, or the south-central Appalachian Pennsylvania counties become part of West Virginia!

Never let me have the power to do this in reality because I will go apes*** in trying to make as many populace Democratic states as I can.

[Absentee Voting Ghost of Ruin]

https://thehill.com/homenews/state-watch/554332-oregon-counties-vote-to-secede-to-idaho

Voters in five rural Oregon counties approved measures on Tuesday to consider joining the state of Idaho, a part of a long-shot grassroots movement to break with a state dominated by liberal voters west of the Cascade Mountains.

Voters in Malheur, Sherman, Grant, Baker and Lake counties all approved measures that would require county officials to take steps to promote moving the Idaho border west to incorporate their populations.

Oregon voters favored President Biden over former President Trump by a 56 percent to 40 percent margin in 2020, but voters in those five rural counties gave between 69 percent and 79 percent of the vote to Trump.

They join two other rural counties — Jefferson and Union — whose voters approved measures promoting a move to Idaho last year.

.....

Actually moving the lines would require a vote from the Oregon legislature, which is firmly controlled by Democrats. Oregon and Idaho would have to strike a formal deal, which would then need to be ratified by the U.S. Congress.

(Population estimates as of 2019 - several of the seven are shrinking and will likely have less after the census.)

Malheur, pop. 30,571
Sherman,  pop. 1,780
Grant,  pop. 7,199
Baker  pop. 16,510
Lake  pop. 7,869

Jefferson  pop. 24,658
Union  pop. 26,835

Total Population: 115,421

Population of Oregon (as of 2020):  4,237,256

[brucejoel99]

lol ok, let 'em go

[Attorney General & PPT Dwarven Dragon]

lol ok, let 'em go

[WD]

Eh, sure, why not?

[DrScholl]

They most certainly get more money out of Salem than they would Boise. These counties would be competing with more poor counties in Idaho than they do in Oregon and for a smaller pool of money.

[DINGO Joe]

Oregon would sooner pay these people's relocation fees to Idaho than cede land. There's a lot of natural resources in that land that the state makes money off of.

I think most of the land out there in BLM, not sure how the state makes money off of it.  Though I'd be interested to hear how. 

The largest county of those discussed in this thread, Malheur, is home to Oregon's largest state prison, the Snake River Correctional Institute, which is part of the proud tradition of American states putting the incarcerated in the most geographically forlorn and distant locations.  It houses 3000 prisoners and has 900 employees.  Since Oregon has a law that prevents sending prisoners out of state that would put a bunch of jobs in danger. 

I also learned from good old Wikipedia that they're making money hand over fist from marijuana in Malheur because it's legal in Oregon and not in Idaho.  I guess that explains why despite the natural Trumptardness of the local population that such a wussy resolution barely passed. 

Although, it should be noted that the largest employer in Malheur is Ore-Ida.  I guess with legalization they're putting the baked into baked potatoes.

[💥💥 brandon bro (he/him/his)]

Wonder how many people who support things like this also unwaveringly support the existence of and would reject any weakening or reforms of the Senate.

[Absentee Voting Ghost of Ruin]

MGT scuds in, a little late to the party.
https://twitter.com/mtgreenee/status/1396556173822803972

[🦀🎂🦀🎂]

Gerrymandering the states would make such a mockery of federalism you might as well abolish the USA and replace it with a unitary government.

[○∙◄☻¥tπ[╪AV┼cVê└]

Gerrymandering the states would make such a mockery of federalism you might as well abolish the USA and replace it with a unitary government.

Hayes only won the 1876 Presidential election because Colorado was admitted to give another 3 electoral votes to him and they didn't even bother having an election for that.

[President Punxsutawney Phil]

Gerrymandering the states would make such a mockery of federalism you might as well abolish the USA and replace it with a unitary government.

Facts.