Oregon conservatives are in a never-ending 2-year cycle:
- They see the discontent and think “Oh boy! We’re going to have a red wave!”
- Get outvoted by Portland
- Oregon Legislature and governor enact destructive policies
- The cycle repeats
This is why we get worse election results during election years (even-numbered years). (The turnout for the election this month was no better than the turnout for last year’s elections in counties that voted on Greater Idaho.)
Ballots are still being counted. According to preliminary results, Klamath County, in eastern Oregon, voted 57% in favor, but southwestern Oregon did not approve: Douglas County voted 53% in opposition, and Josephine County voted 51% in opposition.
The only eastern Oregon county to vote on Greater Idaho this month voted in favor, so let’s try to get the legislative process started to move the border for at least eastern Oregon. We have won consistently in eastern Oregon.
When it comes time for state legislators to set a border, maybe southwestern Oregon will have changed their mind by then. Especially if their hopes of having a Republican governor are crushed and especially if they have to live with Tina Kotek’s policies. If it becomes obvious that southwestern Oregon is changing its mind, then Coos County commissioners could put Greater Idaho on the ballot to prove it.
If you live in southwestern Oregon, we still need your help. You can still lobby your state legislators to start the process of moving the border. We need your legislators. You can still work to make the idea more popular in your area so that your area might be included in phase 1 or phase 2 of the border relocations.
How does this affect our appeal to Idaho? With less chance of adding coastline or a deep-water port to Idaho, the financial benefits are less. On the other hand, adding eastern Oregon alone would be a significant boost to the conservatism of Idaho. Eastern Oregon (voted 70.3% Republican in 2020) is even more conservative than Idaho is (63.9% Republican). This also reduces the Idaho Legislature’s concern about the cannabis farming in southern Oregon. Other benefits remain – they are listed on the homepage of greateridaho.org.
How does this affect our appeal to northwestern Oregon? It might be easier to get the process rolling in the Oregon Legislature without asking for Crater Lake National Park, the coast, the port, and the I-5 corridor that connects to California. Eastern Oregon only has 9% of Oregon’s population, so it’s less of a change.
How does this affect our ambition to eventually add northeastern California and southeastern Washington to Idaho in phase 2? Our ambition remains. Phase 2 is a long shot, but those areas are more prosperous and more conservative than Idaho.
Since we made the map that’s shown above, we decided we should hold the Wallowa election in May 2023, but we already almost have enough signatures in both counties now. We’d love to convince the county courts of Gilliam, Wheeler, and Crook counties, and the city councils of La Pine and Maupin, to put Greater Idaho on the May 2023 ballot too. Send them this link.
Our press release on the election results was published Wednesday here.
