2 more Oregon counties want to join Idaho. Here’s why urban WA state leaders should care

Despite insurmountable odds against it ever happening, the push by Eastern Oregon counties to leave their home state and join Idaho is pressing forward.

In the Nov. 8 election, residents of two more Oregon counties showed support for the idea. They were Morrow County just southwest of the Tri-Cities, which includes the communities of Boardman and Heppner, and Wheeler County, total population 1,450 in the north central part of the state.

That brings the total to 11 Oregon counties officially interested in the “Greater Idaho” movement.

This reminds us of the effort to make Eastern Washington its own state called Liberty. That proposal started a while back and attracted quite a lot of interest for a while. The group even designed its own state flag.

But while the Liberty website still exists, the momentum fizzled.

That’s because according to the U.S. Constitution, state legislatures and Congress have the final say over whether state borders are changed — and we bet that will never happen.

In the past, there have been proposals in the Washington state Legislature to split the state along the Cascade mountain range, but those bills have gone nowhere.

In the case of the Greater Idaho movement, not only would the Oregon Legislature have to approve the plan, but so would Idaho’s. And then Congress would have to agree to the deal.

It’s a losing battle.

However, whether Eastern Oregon can succeed at this unlikely effort isn’t the main point.

People living in the rural half of the state feel like their voices don’t matter when the urban core on the west side of the state has all the power.

Oregon has elected another Democrat as governor, but it was a battle and the win didn’t come easy.

With ballots counted so far, Tina Kotek won with 47.1% of the vote, while Republican Christine Drazen earned 43.5% and Betsy Johnson, who had no party affiliation, received 8.6%.

That means that percentage-wise, more Oregonians voted for someone other than Kotek — at least so far.

Polarization and extremism in our country, our region and local communities are getting worse and it’s no wonder that some rural Oregon residents are thinking they have more in common with their deep Red neighbor to the East.

But dividing into geographic camps will only exacerbate division.

State Democrat leaders in both Oregon and Washington should take note that there are long-time residents who don’t feel like they belong to their home state anymore.

They should listen to constituent concerns instead of dismissing them.

As an example, in the Tri-Cities many feel Gov. Jay Inslee and west-side policy makers don’t care about our region’s opinions when it comes to keeping the Snake River dams and siting alternative clean energy sources.

Those living in Eastern Washington are not unilaterally opposed to wind turbines in the region, but we would like to have some say about where they are placed. Issues like this build resentment from rural residents when they feel their interests are being ignored.

And yes, ideological differences play a role in fomenting east-west division in Oregon and Washington. But there are conservatives who live near the coast and there are liberals who live in rural areas and political moderates scattered throughout both states.

Regardless of our political differences, residents of rural and urban regions need each other. When it comes to taxes, it is generally acknowledged that the rural sides of Oregon and Washington receive more tax revenue than they generate thanks to the attachment to the urban west side.

And metropolitan areas benefit greatly from agriculture production in farming regions.

To be clear, the Morrow County ballot measure called for county commissioners to meet three times a year to discuss relocation of the state border. The Wheeler County ballot measure asked voters whether county officials should request state leaders to “use taxpayer dollars towards moving the Idaho state border to include Wheeler County.”

Both ballot measures seem more like a “let’s take a look at this” vote rather than a firm yes to joining Idaho.

The message, though, is what’s important. Oregon leaders, just like Washington leaders, should acknowledge there is a whole state to pay attention to, and not just an urban core that gets them elected.

This story was originally published November 11, 2022 at 12:12 PM with the headline "2 more Oregon counties want to join Idaho. Here’s why urban WA state leaders should care."