warning Hi, we've moved to USCANNENBERGMEDIA.COM. Visit us there!

Neon Tommy - Annenberg digital news

New State May Secede From California

Sara Newman |
September 4, 2013 | 6:26 p.m. PDT

Executive Producer

 

California Color Coded Voting Map, photo by Dan Ancona via Creative Commons
California Color Coded Voting Map, photo by Dan Ancona via Creative Commons
Most Californians are all too familiar with the political and cultural disparity between the liberal costal cities and the more conservative inland counties.

If the residents of Siskiyou County, California’s northernmost county, have their way, the years of frustration over Southern California’s overpowering political power and Sacramento’s rigid regulations may finally be resolved. 

Since 1941, conservative advocates have tried to form a 51st state. 

According to Redding Record Searchlight, on Tuesday, the Siskiyou County Board of Supervisors voted 4-1 to begin taking steps towards seceding from California. 

"Many proposed laws are unconstitutional and deny us our God-given rights," said longtime Siskiyou County resident Gabe Garrison at the meeting. "We need our own state so we can make laws that fit our way of life."

Supporters want Siskiyou County to join other counties in Northern California and parts of Southern Oregon to form a new state called Jefferson. 

According to a local newspaper, the Republican state listed “regulation, restriction of rights, lack of representation, regionalism and restoration of limited government” as their main grievances against the rest of California. 

The tenuous process to separate from an existing state and form a new one requires the approval of both the original state and the U.S. Congress. Siskiyou County has only taken the first step in the very difficult authorization process; it will take a lot more time and effort to actually create a new state. 

Much like the Northern Colorado residents who are trying to form their own state, the people of Siskiyou County are trying to separate from California due to feelings of misrepresentation. The residents are trying to separate from their notoriously liberal mother state to form a new entity that is more representative of its rural needs and more conservative values.  

Contact Executive Producer Sara Newman here and follow her on Twitter. 



 

Buzz

Craig Gillespie directed this true story about "the most daring rescue mission in the history of the U.S. Coast Guard.”

Watch USC Annenberg Media's live State of the Union recap and analysis here.

 
ntrandomness