Rural Oregon Counties Vote to Secede to Idaho

Do you remember a few years back, when people started a petition to sell Montana to Canada? The petition said that the sale would help pay off some of the US debt.

According to Ian Hammond who started the petition on change.org

We have too much debt and Montana is useless. Just tell them it has beavers or something.

Surprisingly, the petition garnered nearly 25,000 signatures. Obviously it was a joke and Montana is not seceding into Canada. But, not jokingly, 5 counties in Oregon recently voted to secede into Idaho.

According to The Epoch Times

Several counties in Oregon on May 18 voted to consider joining the state of Idaho, which is part of a long-shot movement to break away from the state that has long been dominated by politicians in Portland.

The counties want to incorporate in what they would call "Greater Idaho" and simply move part of Idaho's border as far west as the coast of Oregon. But, this is not as easy as just voting to move the border. The whole thing would have to pass the Oregon legislature. Then it would have to be ratified by the US Congress. Which is a rare thing in the history of the US. Only 3 states have been granted permission from Congress to change their borders. Kentucky in 1792. Maine in 1820. And, West Virginia in 1863.

From what I gather, this boils down to party politics. The rural/conservative portion of Oregon does not want to be governed by the urban/liberal folks in Portland. It is definitely a long shot, but they plan on presenting the bill in 2022.