Here at Common Sense the subject of Oregon’s “red” county secession movement — to move the border to form a “Greater Idaho” — has been addressed several times. Such movements being slow creatures, the advances move along andante. Perhaps Andante con moto.
The story was in the news again this week. For example, Tim Pool brought it up and mused again about the new “civil war” possibility:
But it is also in the papers. Newsweek, for example:
On Tuesday, Crook County in Oregon became the 13th county to approve a proposal to secede from the state and join neighboring Idaho by 53.5 percent of the vote against 46.5 percent, as part of what supporters are calling the “Greater Idaho” project.
Backers of the plan argue the more conservative areas of eastern and central Oregon are currently dominated by liberal-leaning cities such as Portland and Salem and argue their interests would be better represented in traditionally Republican Idaho.
James Bickerton, “Oregon Counties Voting to Join ‘Greater Idaho,’” Newsweek, May 23, 2024.
Talk of secession shouldn’t automatically conjure up “civil war” fears. The American experience in 1860 is the exception: usually secession is the peaceful alternative to unrest, avoiding civil conflict.
1 reply on “Oregon Counties Move to Idaho?”
How do the people of Idaho typically feel about all this?
Back when Quebecois secession was more plausible, some Anglo-Canadians claimed that, in the event, Anglo-Canada would have to pursue annexation by the United States. I began wondering how to oppose such a dire outcome, which would see many people with no respect for liberty of expression given the right to vote in our elections.
I would love to see the jurisdictions of the states of Washington, of Oregon, and of California appropriately partitioned. But long established court precedent stands in the way of any such changes, and genuinely conservative judges would be loath to set aside long-standing precedent, while “progressive” judges would be loath to take power from “progressive” states.