The movement from some Oregon conservatives to push to secede and join the adjacent conservative state of Idaho is heating up.
Citizens of nine counties in eastern Oregon have already indicated they would support the redrawing of Oregon’s borders; two more counties have impending votes urging legislators to support such a move.
“It makes more sense for Eastern Oregonians to get state-level governance coming from Idaho, where they share their values, share their culture, share their politics, than it does to be governed by Western Oregon,” Matt McCaw, the spokesman for the Greater Idaho movement, informed Fox News.
In order for the secession move, which started three years ago, to succeed, both the state legislatures of Oregon and Idaho would have to approve, as well as the U.S. Congress.
The west side of Oregon, which contains urban areas such as Portland, Eugene and Bend, leans heavily to the political Left, but much of the rest of the state harbors conservative values.
“It’s always been a problem because the west side has many more voters,” McCaw added. “They have the numbers to dictate what happens statewide.”
“Idaho doesn’t have a homelessness problem; Oregon’s keeps growing,” the Greater Idaho movement claims on its website. “Idaho doesn’t restrict the building of new homes. Combining all taxes together, the average Idahoan paid $1722 less in taxes in 2019 than the average Oregonian. That’s averaging together every adult or child.”
Noting the preponderance of voters in northwestern Oregon embrace leftist policies, Greater Idaho opines, “This has led to a ruling party that ignores eastern Oregon because none of our legislators are in the ruling party. … But in Idaho, our representatives would be part of the majority. 80% of the Idaho legislature is Republican, and mostly rural.”
“Oregon’s state school curriculum teaches radical theories on race, gender, sexuality, and anti-Americanism,” the website charges. “Oregon limits charter schools, homeschooling, and local control. Idaho’s COVID mandates were only statewide for a few weeks, not two years. We’re not leaving Oregon; northwestern Oregon left us.”
Oregon’s border with Washington was not finalized until the late 1950s.
“We’ve proven that people in Eastern Oregon want to pursue this idea, and we’re going to keep trying to get as many of those counties as possible to get on the ballot,” McCaw said. “But it’s time for the legislature to pick up the ball and start this discussion.”
McCaw is confident that the movement will see success.
“By 2024, you could have a border moved,” he said. “Absolutely.”