It is common for a state to have vast, politically conservative but sparsely populated rural and diminutive town areas that are dominated by state politics by densely populated, mostly liberal/progressive urban enclaves. California is one such place, and in the 2024 election the division between the coastal urban enclaves and the eastern and northern parts of the state appears to have become even more pronounced. The same situation exists in Colorado, where we lived for many years, and where the Denver-Boulder axis runs roughshod over the much more conservative Eastern Plains and much of the Western Slope. Therefore, it is understandable that some of the rural and diminutive town residents feel that their state governments are not serving them well and may try to leave the state to either form a fresh state or join a neighboring state whose taste the prevailing political climate suits them better. This happened in California, where the State of Jefferson movement proposed forming a fresh state from the northern counties and southern tier of Oregon. In Illinois, conservative southern counties are trying to break away from the dominance of Cook County and Chicago.
It seems that this issue comes up every few years or so, generally after an election. This is happening again now.
A movement in countless rural counties in deep blue states such as Illinois and California The secession and creation of fresh states seems to be gaining increasing momentum in the USA in the wake of the November 5th elections.
Conservative rural residents note that their peers are fleeing to lower-taxed, less-regulated red states, but are willing to stay there — and long for a divorce from their state’s urban sectors.
A group called New Illinois State drafted a fresh constitution and advocated for plans to “leave Illinois without moving.” On election day, seven rural counties in Illinois voted to consider secession from the state.
“Voted to think about it”; That’s an intriguing twist. A bit like “try to persevere.”
Some in Northern California have been pushing for Jefferson State for some time, but it appears there is a fresh movement that wants to dismantle the once golden state.
A similar movement has also taken hold in California. The New California State organization hopes to split off counties outside the Bay Area, Sacramento and Los Angeles.
“I’m so excited,” New California State founder Paul Preston told the Wall Street Journal.
Preston denounced the Golden State as “a one-party communist state, and technically they’ve already seceded from the Union.”
Note that there is an vital difference from the turmoil between 1861 and 1865, when 13 states attempted to secede and form another nation. The movements in Illinois and California do not propose leaving the United States (although there is a group in New Hampshire that is proposing just that), but simply redrawing the map of state boundaries to form fresh states.
And do citizens supposedly not have the right to self-determination?
See related: New Poll: 66 Million Americans Support Idea of ’National Divorce’
New Hampshire is taking a second step in legislating to secede from the United States
Louisiana residents win bid to secede from Baton Rouge and create the city of St. George
While the people have the right to have the government they want in good conscience (apologies to HL Mencken), the Constitution makes it complex to form a fresh state from one or more existing ones. The last time this happened was during the Civil War, when West Virginia seceded from secessionist Virginia and remained in the Union. According to the constitution, the legislatures of all participating states would have to vote to allow the redrawing of boundaries or the separation of counties to join a fresh state. Then Congress must vote on the admission of the fresh states. Article 4 of the Constitution describes the relationships between the states, between states and the federal government, and the manner in which fresh states are admitted into the Union. Article 4, Section 3 states:
Congress may admit fresh States into this Union; However, no fresh state may be created or established within the jurisdiction of another state. nor shall any State be formed by the union of two or more States, or parts of States, without the consent of the legislatures of the States concerned, and of the Congress.
Given that most of these border redraws would result in fairly unthreatening Republican jurisdictions, getting such approval from a narrowly divided Congress would be a task.
People should have the right to self-determination. The Constitution takes this into account by explicitly allowing the redrawing of state boundaries in lightweight of the process provided for. To achieve this, voters would have to put significant pressure on Congress, as the Constitution also ensures that this cannot be done arbitrarily.
But when you look at the 2024 election results by county in places like California, Oregon and Illinois, you have to wonder if this is an idea whose time has come.
