Oregon Voters To Consider Secession

Voters in part of Oregon approved a plan to consider seceding from the state, sparking a potential constitutional battle and highlighting the difference between the state’s rural and urban cores. The potential vote also helps to contrast much of the political culture of the state, including the large part of the state that votes for candidates such as former President Donald Trump.

A plan to annex parts of Oregon to the state of Idaho is gaining steam in the state. Voters in many of the state’s eastern rural regions have already approved such a measure. Two counties in the state’s western part have rejected the plan.

The plan to take territory from Oregon and grant it to Idaho is unlikely to take effect. Despite support from many counties in Oregon’s eastern part, it would also require the assent of the two state legislatures and Congress, which is unlikely to happen.

Oregon is frequently split politically, with the city of Portland dominating much of the state’s vote.

Voters in Crook County, Oregon, will decide on an advisory measure on May 21 asking whether they support negotiations to incorporate the county into the state of Idaho. Crook County will be the 15th OR county since 2020 to vote on a measure to secede from the state & join Idaho. pic.twitter.com/v8TcTnYpTg

— Ballotpedia (@ballotpedia) April 29, 2024

While the movement has been growing for years, the planned vote may be the largest single event in its history.

This is not the first time that part of a Western state sought to break away from its urban center. There is a considerable movement to break away part of eastern Washington from the rest of the state.

Washington’s politics are increasingly dominated by the city of Seattle, which has moved significantly leftward in recent decades.

In addition, many rural counties in California do not feel represented by Sacramento or legislators from the large cities. Much of the state’s interior faces a starkly different culture and political landscape than the regions around Los Angeles and San Francisco.

There has been a movement to break away northern California from the rest of the state as the new state of Jefferson. The movement gained considerable strength in the 1940s but lost its momentum when the United States entered the Second World War.

There are other movements to break apart other states, but none have received quite as much attention. There has been a movement to break New York State into different regions, but so far this has not made it onto the ballot.