Eighth Oregon county implores state to let it secede and join Idaho

(CN) — East of the Cascade Range in Oregon, a grassroots movement vying to adjust the state’s border to incorporate the state’s rural and largely Republican-voting counties into Idaho is gaining more support.

Crook County, located squarely in the middle of the state and just to the east of recreation destination Bend, is the latest county to send a letter supporting secession.

“Following the will of our people, the Crook County Board of Commissioners wants to express to you that our citizens encourage continued discussions with our Idahoan neighbors regarding the possibility of a westward relocation of the Oregon-Idaho border,” the county says in its letter.

The county is the eighth in the state to send such a letter to the legislature, and the 13th to pass a measure supporting the Greater Idaho movement, which wants the Oregon Legislature to consider letting 13 eastern counties join the Republican-leaning state next door to better represent the eastern counties’ politics.

The county posed an advisory question to voters in May: Should Crook County represent that its citizens support efforts to move the Idaho state border to include Crook County?

The residents largely assented, with 53.4% voting yes.

The Crook County Board of Commissioners approved and sent the letter addressed to Oregon Senator Lynn Findley and Representative Vikki Breese-Iverson, at a meeting on Wednesday as part of its consent agenda before entertaining a visit from Smokey the Bear to wish the U.S. Forest Service mascot a happy 80th birthday.

For the movement’s Executive Director Matt McCaw, the letter is a promising step toward gaining traction with state leaders.

"This is how the system is supposed to work,” McCaw said in a statement. “The people of eastern Oregon have done what they can, and that's make their wishes known at the ballot box.  We now need the people who represent us to pick up the ball and carry this conversation forward to the legislature.”

For the conservative effort to become a reality, it faces significant hurdles, namely in gaining the support of Oregon, Idaho and the U.S. Congress.  

To get that support, three of the movement’s leaders sent a letter to Oregon Governor Tina Kotek in July requesting a sit-down meeting.

“You repeatedly stated that you wanted to listen to communities and hear your constituents’ concerns,” the leaders wrote. “As leaders of the most successful county ballot initiative movement in eastern Oregon history, we are ready to provide you with that opportunity.”

McCaw said the group behind the movement feels the governor owes them the time to discuss the issue. The group sees the proposed border change as a win-win for both states by better aligning residents with political leaders who share their beliefs.

Supporters of the Greater Idaho movement, which began in 202 as the Move Oregon’s Border movement, have expressed feeling unrepresented by the state’s leaders.

In 2021, the group visited the Idaho Legislature to lay out the plan and received a warm reception, though no formal support at the time. In 2023, Idaho’s House of Representatives passed a bill allowing the leaders to discuss the possible border relocation in more detail.

While 13 Oregon counties have voted in favor, the movement ultimately wants all counties east of the Cascades to join the neighboring state. Four counties included in that region have yet to cast their support for the effort.

Though eastern Oregon shares political leanings with Idaho, the two states have quite different legislative landscapes. Oregon’s minimum wage is $14.70 per hour while Idaho’s is the federal minimum wage of $7.25 per hour. Oregon legalized recreational cannabis in 2014, whereas in Idaho it remains illegal. Idaho has a sales tax, Oregon does not.

To some Crook County residents, the movement is not worth the trouble.

“There is no advantage for us to be living in Idaho and in fact, we would be concerned about the sales tax, possible decline in medical care, hardship for our daughters and their families due to uncertainty in their jobs, possible reduction Oregon PERS for some Oregon retirees, and the financial burden assumed by the state of Idaho after payment for Oregon assets,” Crook County resident Rich Mires wrote as an argument in opposition to the measure in the voter’s guide.

The movement gained support from county voters in Baker, Grant, Harney, Jefferson, Klamath, Lake, Malheur, Morrow, Sherman, Union, Wallowa and Wheeler. Wallowa voters initially rejected the initiative, but later passed a measure in support of it in 2023 by seven votes.

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