Tucson sunset. (Photo by toga via Flickr)

A group called Start Our State has started a campaign to make Pima County, home of Tucson, its own state.

The Arizona Daily Star reports:

Start Our State, which is asking other like-minded counties to join the effort, hopes to put the question before Pima County voters in 2012.

The concept of a Southern Arizona state - Baja Arizona - has been around for ages as a way to differentiate the region from its more conservative brethren to the north. The notion of secession has been bandied about, but there was never a serious effort in that direction - until now.

Overcoming that historical inertia, and the initial reaction from political observers, highlights the problem the group will face.

While some supporters of the group don't want to put up with the far-right policies of the state anymore, others want to leave because the state is in a financial mess.

The group has already run into opposition. The Pima County Board of Supervisors refused to put the idea on the ballot.

More than one million residents live in Pima County, giving it a populaiton larger than seven other states, and it's nearly nine times the size of Rhode Island.