Who wants a Greater Idaho?
12th July 2021
For many conservatives in liberal states, 2020 was the year they finally upped sticks. Stringent lockdowns, Democratic commitments to defund the police and a bad-blooded presidential election combined to make a compelling case for relocation. Californians have fled to Texas; Florida has become a year-round home, and not just a seasonal destination, for a flock of north-eastern exiles.
In Oregon, conservatives are taking things a step further. Rather than moving themselves to a red state, they want to bring a red state to them by redrawing the borders of neighboring Idaho.
Campaigners for a Greater Idaho argue that there is an unbridgeable gap in values between the northwestern corner of Oregon — home to hyper-liberal Portland and 80 percent of the state’s population — and the state’s rural east and south, where conservative farming families have more in common with Idahoans than their fellow Oregonians. In May, five Oregon counties voted in favor of measures that would require local officials to discuss joining Idaho. That brings the total count of counties who support the move to seven out of 36.