Rural Oregon conservatives fed up with liberal politics want to secede from the state

Fed up with the state’s wary politics, conservative Oregonians plan to secede from the state and join Idaho instead.

Members of the Greater Idaho movement are urging their state legislators, as well as their Idaho counterparts, to redraw the Oregon border so that the eastern two-thirds of the state becomes part of Idaho.

The move has already gained support from residents in nine eastern Oregon counties, with those in two others set to vote next month on whether they want their lawmakers to work on redrawing the border.

State legislators from both Idaho and Oregon would also have to sign the plan before it goes through to United States Congress.

That makes sense, says spokesman Matt McCaw, because Idaho’s politics are more in line with the conservative views of those residents.

“It makes more sense for Eastern Oregonians to take state-level governance out of Idaho, where they share their values, share their culture, share their politics, than to be ruled by Western Oregon,” he said. FOX News digital on Thursday.

He went on to explain that liberals in Western cities like Portland, Eugene and Bend have imposed their vigilant policies on the state’s conservative majority — many of whom even voted for former President Donald Trump in the last election.

But the state was eventually called for President Joe Biden after liberals voted Democrat in the densely populated cities. At the same time, however, Idaho voted 63.9 percent for Trump, while only 33.1 percent of the vote went to Biden.

“It’s always been a problem because the west side has a lot more voters,” McCaw said. “They have the numbers to dictate what happens across the state.”

Now, he and other supporters of the Greater Idaho movement argue, they are being subjected to vigilant policies such as relieving the police, removing bail for some criminals and teaching critical race theory in schools.

The group envisions 15 entire counties and two partial counties joining Idaho for these reasons, with residents of Morrow County and Wheeler County set to vote on the proposal next month.

If the measure is passed in Morrow County, commissioners will have to meet there three times a year to discuss how best to represent their country’s interests in “all negotiations over the relocation of the Oregon-Idaho border.”

And if passed in Wheeler County, local officials should pressure their state counterparts to push ahead with plans to move the border.

And officials in Idaho already seem interested in the measure.

Republican State Representative Barbara Ehardt recently tabled a resolution stating that representatives would continue discussions about the border, noting that Oregon has resources that would be “very beneficial to Idaho,” such as timber, minerals and water.

Idaho had already become a favorite location for conservative Oregonians to move to, FOX Digital reports, as they look for a lower cost of living.

In fact, in 2020, Republican Governor of Idaho, Brad Little, told FOX and Friends that he understood why Oregonians would want “a little more autonomy, a little more control, a little more freedom.”

But McCaw says now is the time to move forward, as the organization does website explains their grievances to the Oregon Liberal government, which it says is “ignoring eastern Oregon because none of our legislators is in the ruling party.”

As a result, the group claims, Oregon Gov Kate Brown and other Democratic leaders have been able to pass vigilant laws, such as the one that limits fossil fuels by creating carbon caps and trades “that cut energy costs in the United States.” will increase dramatically in the coming years. year.

“This will force Oregon residents to earn a living as servants or as dependents,” the site says. “That’s not the Oregon I know.”

It adds that companies will not survive the new regulations and will not allow Oregon to compete with other states.

At the same time, secession proponents say, Oregon’s schools teach “radical theories about race, gender, sexuality, and anti-Americanism,” while politicians “cannot withstand the endless array of radical social experiments, such as unburdening the police.” and give free rein to rioters and arsonists.’

They railed against state bail reform laws, which they say allow “thousands of hardened criminals” to be released early from prison while “violating your Second Amendment right to defend your family.”

But in Idaho, proponents say they would pay fewer taxes, explaining that in 2019 the average Idahoan paid $1,722 less in taxes than the average Oregonian.

And they wouldn’t be subjected to the same homeless crisis that Oregon faces, or its high crime rate.

“We’re not leaving Oregon; Northwest Oregon has left us,” the secessionists argue on their site, urging residents to “vote YES to keep old Oregon as part of Idaho.”

The move comes as crime spirals out of control in the state’s most populous city, Portland.

Total crime in the city is now up a whopping 23.6 percent from last year, according to Portland Police Department statistics, with robberies rising 37 percent and thefts 18 percent.

Sexual offenses meanwhile have also risen 10 percent, as the mayor’s office estimates there are about 6,000 homeless people living on the streets – although critics say they believe the number is actually much higher.

The secessionists say they’d rather kick Portland out of the state, but they realize the Democrats in the Oregon State Legislature and in the US Congress “would never allow it.”

“They’re more likely to let us go to Idaho,” the website says, noting that the Gem State “doesn’t have a homeless problem” as Oregon does and “doesn’t restrict the construction of new homes.”

Members of the group were even invited to share their ideas with the Idaho state legislature, where they received widespread support from Republican lawmakers.

Rep. Laurie Lickley said at the time, “I think this is a broader conversation that we need to have across the United States and from our rural communities to our urban areas that…forget where their food comes from.

But Democratic state senator Michelle Stennett was concerned about the logistics of moving the border, such as Oregon’s higher minimum wage and cannabis legalization.

“How do you mix criminal justice systems and jurisdictions?” she asked. Where does your tax base come from?

“There’s just a lot that isn’t talked about and that would have to be worked out to even consider this,” she said at the time.