An effort by some rural Oregon residents to bail on the left-leaning state and join forces with Idaho is closer to realization, with five counties slated to vote on the measure in May.
“Rural counties have become increasingly outraged by laws coming out of the Oregon Legislature that threaten our livelihoods, our industries, our wallet, our gun rights, and our values,” Move Oregon’s Border President Mike McCarter said of the effort. “We tried voting those legislators out, but rural Oregon is outnumbered, and our voices are now ignored. This is our last resort.”
McCarter’s group started the petition last year to move Idaho’s border west to include a large part of rural Oregon. Proponents of the effort, part of the “Greater Idaho Project,” say Idaho’s politics more closely align with their interests, while the more urban and populated areas of Oregon tend to lean far to the Left.
Now, five Oregon counties are set to vote on the idea in May, the group announced Monday. The counties of Grant, Malheur, and Sherman have already gained approval to vote on the measure, while Baker and Lake counties are still awaiting signature verification. McCarter said the group has submitted 141% of the required signatures in those counties for verification.
The emergence of the coronavirus pandemic has only worked to solidify support for the measure, with the group accusing state lawmakers of targeting coronavirus relief “to urban Oregon instead of rural Oregon.”
The group would ultimately like to see all but 14 of Oregon’s 36 counties become part of the new Greater Idaho, with signature drives already underway in seven counties, including Curry, Josephine, Jackson, Klamath, Harney, Morrow, and Umatilla.
Moving the borders of states is a complicated process, requiring the approval of not only local ballot measures but also the approval of both states and the federal government.
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But that reality hasn’t dissuaded McCarter from trying, thanks to what he calls a “dangerous” division in Oregon’s politics.
“Divisions in Oregon are getting dangerous, so we see the relocation of the border as a way to keep the peace. It’s not divisive,” McCarter said. “Oregon and Idaho are already divided by a state line. The problem is that the location of the state line was decided 161 years ago and is now outdated.”
