Union-Bulletin by Kevin Fixler 11/9/2022
Two more eastern Oregon counties appeared to join the growing, long-shot campaign to extend Idaho’s western border to add their region to the state, initial midterm election returns indicated.
Oregon's Morrow and Wheeler counties each voted Tuesday to support the so-called “Greater Idaho” movement, which proposes exiting Oregon to enter the boundaries of its eastern neighbor. If the results hold, that means 11 Oregon counties have adopted the idea since the concept’s launch in 2020.
The unorthodox effort is rooted in the partisan divide within Oregon, loosely along the eastern and western parts of the state. Western Oregon, including the state’s largest city, Portland, is politically left-leaning, but eastern Oregon aligns more closely with its conservative, right-wing neighbor, Idaho.
“We call on the Legislature to let each half of the state go their separate ways in peace,” Mike McCarter, Greater Idaho leader, said in a Wednesday news release. “It should simply stop holding our counties captive in this unhappy marriage.”
Such a drastic move as redrawing state borders would require approval in each state’s Legislature, plus congressional endorsement. Idaho Gov. Brad Little last year acknowledged the improbability such a move would ever happen, while recognizing why people whose politics lean to the right would want to be in the Gem State.
More:
https://www.union-bulletin.com/news/national/campaign-to-extend-idahos-western-border-gains-more-oregon-support/article_b7b6fe31-b2f3-5c0a-99c7-9044872493d9.html
