Conservatives in Oregon are pressing their state's government to redraw state borders so they can join Idaho, which last voted for a Democratic president in 1964.
Mike McCarter, 72, is the leader of Move Oregon’s Border for a Greater Idaho, which has asked 18 Oregon counties to approve petitions to open communications with Oregon’s legislative leaders.
The group is also targeting parts of Northern California.
So far, proposals to let voters weigh in on the issue have earned approval from Josephine and Douglas Counties.
“We’re picking up momentum,” McCarter told The Oregonian. “It takes a lot of oomph to get something like this started. I call it a peaceful revolution.”
“Our approach is to go county by county rather than a state initiative,” McCarter adds. “We want people [in the counties that would move to Idaho] to chime in and say, ‘Yes, we want this.’ It takes more work to go county by county, but it informs the public more.”
Approval would still be needed from the Oregon and Idaho legislatures if the counties vote to join Idaho.
McCarter said the Oregon counties are “becoming increasingly outraged by laws from the state legislature that threaten our livelihoods, our industries, our wallets, our gun rights and our values.”
"We tried voting those legislators out but rural Oregon is outnumbered and our voices are now ignored," he said. "This is our last resort."
Solange Reyner ✉
Solange Reyner is a writer and editor for Newsmax. She has more than 15 years in the journalism industry reporting and covering news, sports and politics.
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