Some Eastern Oregonians look to join Idaho, saying they have little in common with people in their current state

Map by Amanda Hernández, from Stateline research

Amid ongoing tensions and political disagreements, Eastern Oregon residents from 12 counties look to secede from Oregon and join Idaho. "At a meeting late last month, 25 people packed into a stuffy conference room in the Wallowa County Courthouse—35 miles west of the Idaho state line and 260 miles east of Portland—to hear county commissioners debate a single agenda item: leaving Oregon," reports Matt Vasilogambros of Stateline. Known as "The Greater Idaho movement," the idea to leave Oregon for Idaho had "sputtered along for years, gaining little traction. But then, the coronavirus hit in the spring of 2020."

Disagreements over Oregon's Covid management became the tinder that reignited the Greater Idaho movement. "Quarantines and remote learning inflamed residents' anger with the state government for shutting down schools and businesses," Vasilogambros explains. "This tension invigorated the effort to join Idaho, a state whose government reacted wholly differently to Covid than Oregon did. . . . Secession is a long shot that would require approval by Congress; so far, there have been ballot measures, and there has been a lot of talk. But the fact that the movement has gotten even this far illustrates the growing tear in the American fabric."

Greater Idaho has reached succession benchmarks other states, such as California and Illinois, have failed to meet. "If supporters here achieve their goal, it could mean a paradigm shift nationally, proponents say, inspiring more states to split along cultural and political lines," Vasilogambros writes. "County by county, Eastern Oregonians have voted on similar measures over the past three years, securing much of the large rural region for the secessionist movement. In June, Wallowa County became the 12th to pass a ballot initiative in support of joining Idaho."

Wallowa County is 6 hours, 55 minutes from
Oregon's capital in Salem. (Geology.com map)

"Stateline traveled more than 1,000 miles of Eastern Oregon, where supporters of the movement to join Idaho said they feel unheard by the decision-makers in Salem," Vasilogambros reports. "Would-be secessionists freely recognize that their communities represent less than a tenth of the state's population, but they also asked: Don't we matter? Their grievances are many: They dislike rules that restrict tree-cutting, protect coyotes and promote electric vehicles. They oppose transgender rights, classroom discussions of gender and race, and limits on guns. They detest the taxes and regulations they believe have devastated the region's economy. And they hate what became of Portland, a city many of them look back on with nostalgia."

For Eastern Oregonians, there's "a sense of desperation, as if all options have been exhausted and all that remains is joining Idaho," Vasilogambros reports. Mike McCarter, who leads the Greater Idaho movement, told Vasilogambros: "I have people come at me and say, 'Well, what can we do to change it?' It's gone too far over the top to change." Vasilogambros adds, "Whether they can succeed is another story."