Voters say “it’s all about values.”
According to a report from The New York Post, two more counties voted to join “the Greater Idaho” movement this week; Voters in two Oregon counties, Morrow and Wheeler, approved a ballot measure to explore ways to leave the state.
“Every win has been heart-wrenching because we wanted to know what citizens truly wanted,” Mike McCarter, one of the founders of the Greater Idaho movement, said Thursday. “We don’t want to impose anything, but this does send a message to the state legislature that they have to take care of us.”
“There’s still a long negotiation process ahead, but who would have thought that a movement we started two and a half years ago would have come this far,” said McCarter, 75. “This isn’t for me anymore. I am doing this for my children and grandchildren.”
From The New York Post:
Members of the movement say they do not feel represented by mostly liberal lawmakers in Oregon’s capital, Salem, and progressive urban residents in western cities such as Portland, Bend and Eugene.
…
Members of the movement are mostly rural, and opposed to abortion, the legalization of recreational drugs and limits on firearms. In the 2020 election, former President Donald Trump dominated Eastern Oregon, receiving nearly 80% of the vote in some counties, but President Biden ultimately won 56.5% of Oregon votes thanks to liberal cities.
The Greater Idaho movement is a radical proposition that would see nearly two-thirds of Oregon’s 63 million acres (98,000 square miles), but less than 10% of its population, join neighboring Idaho.
Two more Oregon counties vote to become part of Idaho: ‘It’s all about values’ https://t.co/5YZXeEsJqo pic.twitter.com/obgBqMehnb
— New York Post (@nypost) November 11, 2022
