Oregonians want out of ... Oregon

Oregon wants out of Oregon.

At least five rural counties voted last week to move out of Oregon and eastward, becoming part of neighboring Idaho because they believe they would be better off in the Gem State's more conservative political environment, says the leader of the grassroots movement.

"If Oregon really believes in liberal values such as self-determination, the legislature won't hold our counties captive against our will," said Mike McCarter, 74, a conservative activist from La Pine, Oregon, who heads Citizens for Greater Idaho, in a statement. The group organized the ballot measures.

"If we're allowed to vote for which government officials we want, we should be allowed to vote for which government we want as well," he said.

Voters in Baker, Grant, Lake, Malheur and Sherman — sparsely populated counties in the eastern part of Oregon with a total of 63,000 people — approved the nonbinding ballot measures on April 18 to make them Idahoans. They joined two other rural counties — Jefferson and Union — whose voters approved measures last year calling on county officials to meet to discuss and consider a border move to Idaho.

The group wants 18 Oregon counties to approve their petitions to open communications with Oregon's Legislature. If approved, the group still would need to collect signatures of about 6 percent of the counties' populations for local voters to see the referendum on their November ballots, according to The Oregonian newspaper.

Beyond wanting to become more closely allied with conservatives in Idaho, the group also cites Oregon's lack of rural representation in the Legislature, the state's 2020 drug decriminalization law and its tax rate as reasons to leave Oregon.

"Rural counties have become increasingly outraged by laws coming out of the Oregon Legislature that threaten our livelihoods, our industries, our wallet, our gun rights, and our values," McCarter previously said in a news release. "We tried voting those legislators out, but rural Oregon is outnumbered, and our voices are now ignored. This is our last resort."

It wants to flip Oregon's mostly rural eastern and southern counties — up to 22 of the state's 36 counties — into Idaho. It is hoping that political pressure from the county initiative votes will lead to negotiations between Oregon and Idaho to move the border.

McCarter said eastern Oregon is more like Idaho politically and adding Oregon counties would strengthen the state's conservative voice.

All five of the would-be new Idaho counties voted strongly for Donald Trump in November, but the state's Electoral College votes went to Joe Biden. Oregon has voted blue (Democratic) in presidential elections since 1988, while Idaho has voted red (Republican) in presidential contests since 1968.

The odds of changing Idaho's border established more than 100 years ago are slim. It would take approval by the two state legislatures — Oregon's is controlled by Democrats and Idaho's by Republicans — both governors and ultimately Congress.

The campaign has been called outlandish, counterproductive and harebrained by Idaho Democrats.

"Cherry-picking deeply red counties to add to our state would make our politics even more dysfunctional," state Representative Lauren Necochea of Boise told The Washington Post. "I am heartened that this is a long shot from a legal and procedural standpoint, because the ramifications would be devastating."

State Senator Melissa Wintrow, a Democrat also from Boise, dismissed the proposal as an attempt to curry favor with GOP voters.