The Greater Idaho movement is advancing slowly, but it is advancing. The group aims to move the border of Oregon to the west, allowing rural Oregonian counties to join Idaho, with which they are culturally and politically compatible. Initially there would be twelve (and now thirteen) counties that would switch from Oregon to Idaho, while others may be added later, and might include several from northern California, which would give Idaho a Pacific coastline.
Here’s the latest press release:
Crook County Passes Greater Idaho Measure — Leaders Call for Action from Governor and Legislature
Prineville — On Tuesday, voters in Crook County passed measure 7-86, which asked voters if they support negotiations to move the Oregon/Idaho border to include Crook County in Idaho. The measure is passing with 53% of the vote, and makes Crook County the 13th county in eastern Oregon to pass a Greater Idaho measure. Calls for action from leaders of the movement were swift, with Executive Director Matt McCaw issuing the following statement:
“The voters of eastern Oregon have spoken loudly and clearly about their desire to see border talks move forward. With this latest result in Crook County, there’s no excuse left for the Legislature and Governor to continue to ignore the people’s wishes. We call on the Governor, Speaker of the House, and Senate President to sit down with us and discuss next steps towards changing governance for eastern Oregonians, as well as for the legislature to begin holding hearings on what a potential border change will look like.”
President of the movement, Mike McCarter agreed. “For the last three years we’ve been going directly to voters and asking them what they want for their state government. What they’re telling us through these votes is that they want their leaders to move the border. In our system, the people are the ones in charge, and it’s time for the leaders representing them to follow through,” he said.
The group also pointed out that they expected that results would have been even higher if not for an extensive “no” vote campaign funded by Portland groups. Last year in the Wallowa County vote, Portland groups outspent Greater Idaho over 4-1. The movement suspects the same was true this year, though it is impossible to know since the group funding the “no” effort has not reported their spending to the state, despite being required to by law.
The Greater Idaho movement seeks to move the border between Oregon and Idaho to include 14 full eastern Oregon counties and 3 partial ones. In addition to the 13 counties who have passed Greater Idaho measures, in 2023 the Idaho House passed a memorial inviting the Oregon Legislature to begin border talks.
Supporters of the movement believe that moving the border would benefit both sides of the state, and allow for better representation and governance for people moving forward. For more information and uncopyrighted photos for media use, visit greateridaho.org.
Previous posts about Greater Idaho:
As things sit today, I don’t see secession as a realistic option, especially in Oregon; the [CONSUMER] ‘toddlers would never permit the loss of their [PRODUCER] tax base. That said, as’s been said previously, ad absurdum, I DO see violent conflagration dead ahead due to our having (at least) two opposing civilizations—hyphenators and non-hyphenated AMERICAN citizens—occupying the same land. The ash heap of history’s chocked-full o’ so many examples of this that you’d have to be a ‘toddler not to recognize the (repeating) pattern..that changes only in the names and dates.
“I cannot say it too often–any man who carries a hyphen about with him carries a dagger that he is ready to plunge into the vitals of this Republic whenever he gets ready. If I can catch any man with a hyphen in this great contest, I will know that I have caught an enemy of the Republic.” —Woodrow Wilson (Democrat), “The Pueblo Speech” (1919)
“There is no room in this country for hyphenated Americanism…The one absolutely certain way of bringing this nation to ruin, of preventing all possibility of its continuing to be a nation at all, would be to permit it to become a tangle of squabbling nationalities.” —Theodore Roosevelt (Republican), “Americanism” (1915)
“When disparate groups within a civilization no longer share a foundational understanding of what constitutes morality, chaos and decline become unavoidable.” —posted to fb (2018)