Conservative portion of Oregon looking to join Idaho

Oregon's ideological fault lines exposed during the anti-police riots of 2020 are again coming to the fore, as the Greater Idaho movement looks to sever the conservative geographic majority of the state from the urban progressive movement.

What they're saying:

"This movement has always been about the people of Eastern Oregon, getting their voice heard and helping those communities get the kind of state-level governance they actually want," executive director Matt McCaw told Fox News Digital.

"If the Oregon Legislature truly believes in democracy, they will honor those voters' wishes and move forward on making a border change happen."

But similar attempts at secession have produced mixed results in U.S. history.

Earlier this month, state Rep. Mark Owens, R-Malheur, put forward HB 3844, the measure that creates and directs a task force to document the impacts of relocating the Idaho border to include about 13 eastern Oregon counties, and requires a report be presented to lawmakers in Salem. He did not respond to a request for comment.

The backstory:

The Greater Idaho movement began putting such measures up for votes in various localities in 2020, and efforts have intensified as several incidents and issues in the geographically smaller but denser-populated coastal region have caused political divisions.

The Greater Idaho movement seeks to move the Idaho border to include 13 eastern Oregon counties, driven by ideological differences between the conservative east and progressive west of the state. Oregon Rep. Mark Owens introduced HB 3844 to explore the potential for shifting the border, aiming to reduce political tensions and align governance with local preferences. Similar border-shifting efforts in U.S. history, like West Virginia’s secession, have had mixed success, with other movements, such as in Staten Island, also seeking autonomy due to political differences. A local resident who opposes the Greater Idaho Movement holds an Oregon state flag at a picnic and protest to demonstrate against the proposed annexation of eastern Oregon by Idaho, in Enterprise, Oregon, on May 12, 2023. Oregon has not elected a Republican governor in 40 years. Yet it is very divided: in the last midterm elections in November, only six out of 36 counties voted Democratic, but they are the most populous and they consistently win. In the very rural east of the state, many voters are tired of being dispossessed by the urban elite close to the Pacific coast. To ward off fate, an unusual idea emerged: what if we moved the border, to create a "Greater Idaho" encompassing half of Oregon? Of the 15 counties in the eastern part, 11 have already voted to force their local officials to regularly discuss the modalities of a hypothetical secession. On May 16, the Wallowa court is due to vote on a similar measure.

A local resident who opposes the Greater Idaho Movement holds an Oregon state flag at a picnic and protest to demonstrate against the proposed annexation of eastern Oregon by Idaho, in Enterprise, Oregon, on May 12, 2023. (Photo by Robyn Beck / AFP) (Photo by ROBYN BECK/AFP via Getty Images)

Expand

During the anti-police riots of 2020, Oregon was front-and-center as protesters vandalized Portland and made a dayslong violent stand in front of the Mark Hatfield Federal Courthouse. But in the eastern two-thirds of Oregon, the conservative geographic majority of the state does not often ideologically align with their urban brethren.

Greater Idaho president Mike McCarter said of the new legislative development: "We are encouraged to see the representatives of Eastern Oregon coming together to advocate for their voters by bringing these bills to the Legislature. The people of Eastern Oregon have made clear they want to explore moving the border and joining Idaho.

"This movement has always been about the people of Eastern Oregon, getting their voice heard and helping those communities get the kind of state-level governance they actually want."

By shifting the border, proponents believe both states have a "win-win" – in that the people living in each would better reflect the established political majority and lower political tension.

A report in the Central Oregonian noted an "interstate compact" is part of what is required to move the line, and cited other border-shifting bills in other states.

One would forward the cause of adding several rural Illinois counties that don’t see eye-to-eye with Springfield or Chicago to more closely aligned Indiana. Another in Iowa would allow the same movement for counties in the Land of Lincoln that are closer to the Hawkeye State line.

Idaho GOP Gov. Brad Little and Oregon Democratic Gov. Tina Kotek did not respond to requests for comment.

Big picture view:

So far, only a few such movements regarding either secession or redrawing of state lines have been successful.

The now-55 counties of West Virginia voted to secede from the then-Confederate Virginia and independently ratified the U.S. Constitution on June 20, 1863.

A Washington Post story on the matter said Mountaineers split from Virginia as a way of "defending the ‘United States’… rather than the ‘seceded states’."

In New York City’s Staten Island – the "forgotten borough" as many locals call it – there has been a movement afoot for decades seeking to break from the Big Apple.

Already geographically distant on the "New Jersey side" of the Hudson River, the borough is also separated from the Garden State by the Kill Van Kull and Arthur Kill.

Efforts to reestablish the reliably-red borough as the city of Richmond (after its coterminous county) or other names began with a favor from then-Gov. Mario Cuomo in the 1980s.

Cuomo enraged city leaders but endeared himself to the working-class voters on the island by approving state Sen. John J. Marchi’s push for a secession referendum.

Marchi, who died in 2006 and now has a Staten Island Ferry named in his honor, saw his borough vote nearly 2-1 to secede in 1993 – only to have their desires quashed by Albany’s Democratic majority.

And while the 1995 election of Mayor Rudy Giuliani calmed secession tensions, the drumbeat began anew in recent months.

"I think it’s time to secede," Rep. Nicole Malliotakis, R-N.Y., told The New York Post as Gov. Kathy Hochul was touting her congestion-priced driving fee that now double-taxes Staten Island commuters.

"There’s no real value in being part of this city or the state. We didn’t vote for this mayor; we didn’t vote for this governor; and we didn’t vote for this president (then Joe Biden), but we’re always the ones getting screwed," she said.

The Source: Information for this story came from Fox News Digital Reporter Charles Creitz.

BEST OF FOX 13 SEATTLE

Politics: Lawmakers propose pay-by-mile charge for WA drivers

Food: Starbucks phasing out plastic cups for cold drinks in WA, other states

Local: IRS tax refund schedule 2025: What you need to know

To get the best local news, weather and sports in Seattle for free, sign up for the daily FOX Seattle Newsletter.Download the free FOX LOCAL app for mobile in the Apple App Store or Google Play Store for live Seattle news, top stories, weather updates and more local and national coverage, plus 24/7 streaming coverage from across the nation.

Oregon Idaho Politics News