In the same place where thousands of voters once affirmed one of Greater Idaho鈥檚 first electoral victories, Mike McCarter wondered why more people weren鈥檛 continuing to show up to voice their support.
Two years ago, Union County voters approved a ballot measure that mandated the Union County Board of Commissioners meet the second Wednesday of every February, June and October to discuss only one topic: moving Union County from Oregon to Idaho.
More than 7,000 Union County voters approved the measure in the Nov. 3, 2020, election. By the time the commissioners convened on Oct. 12, it was their sixth meeting since the measure passed. McCarter, the president of Citizens of Greater Idaho, spoke to an in-person audience of about a half-dozen people.
鈥淲e鈥檝e got a meeting going on this morning,鈥� he said. 鈥淎nd you would think that if this is an important issue that the room would be packed. So there鈥檚 some resistance out there.鈥�
McCarter and his group have spent the past several years backing ballot measures meant to build public support for an expanded, 鈥済reater鈥� Idaho that would extend its western border to the Cascade Mountains. A divorce between rural Oregon and the Willamette Valley, the thinking goes, would allow Eastern Oregon and parts of central and Southern Oregon to align themselves with a state that shares much of rural Oregon鈥檚 conservative politics and culture.
Greater Idaho organizers say they are confident they can add two more Oregon counties to the group of nine counties that have already voted for pro-Greater Idaho measures. But supporters are reporting challenges in sustaining momentum from the movement and quiet resistance from Oregon government officials and voters.
Backing out at the ballot box
Redrawing Oregon and Idaho鈥檚 lines would require acts from both state legislatures plus congressional approval
But Citizens for Greater Idaho, and its predecessor group Move Oregon鈥檚 Borders, have pinned some of their hopes on county-wide advisory ballot measures. Greater Idaho expects to turn successful non-binding ballot measures into public pressure on the people who actually have the power to change state lines: lawmakers in Salem and Boise.
Greater Idaho secured its first wins in November 2020, when voters in Union and 老夫子传媒 counties approved local measures. Six more counties east of the Cascades followed in 2021, Klamath County joined the ranks in May, and the group is supporting two more measures in Morrow and Wheeler counties on the Nov. 8 ballot.
These local measures don鈥檛 bind counties to join Idaho, nor do they require a formal request to the Oregon Legislature to start the process. Most of the successful measures only require county governments to meet multiple times per year 鈥渢o discuss how to promote the interest鈥� of their county in border negotiations.
Greater Idaho spokesman Matt McCaw said the measures鈥� language was necessary to pass muster with state election rules.
鈥�(Ballot language) has to be worded in a certain way. It has to create some new legislation,鈥� he said. 鈥淚n a lot of these counties, the only way to get a measure on the ballot was to couch it as, 鈥楧o you want your county court to meet to discuss this?鈥欌��
While Greater Idaho organizers were collecting signatures, they were also urging county commissioners to refer the issue to the local ballot themselves, a move McCaw said brought more flexibility in phrasing the question. But the results of the commissioner-referred measures were a lot more mixed.
On the same night, Greater Idaho claimed its first victories in 2020, it also experienced two losses.
Wallowa County voters rejected a boilerplate meeting mandate that would have required their board of commissioners to meet three times per year. But Douglas County residents voted against something very different.
A November 2020 measure referred to the ballot by Douglas County simply asked voters if county commissioners and state legislators should 鈥渨ork toward moving the Idaho state border to include Douglas County?鈥� On the night Donald Trump took two-thirds of Douglas County鈥檚 presidential votes, voters rejected the measure 57% to 43%.
Greater Idaho supporters gathered signatures in Douglas County and tried again in May, this time posing the question, 鈥淪hall county resources be used to incorporate Douglas County within Idaho State鈥檚 border and thereafter be subject to Idaho鈥檚 laws?鈥� The measure fell again, this time by a tighter 53% to 47% vote.
Following the second vote in Douglas County and a failed attempt in neighboring Josephine County, . A rejiggered Idaho would no longer extend all the way to the Pacific Ocean through southwest Oregon and would instead stop at Klamath County.
Organizers still feel like the public sentiment is on their side within Eastern Oregon and the counties that have already passed measures. While the most successful version of the pro-Greater Idaho measure simply establishes a series of public meetings, McCaw said the organization still considers it a sign that the counties that have voted yes are ready for the move.
鈥淲hen we talk to people, they understand that they鈥檙e voting on greater Idaho,鈥� he said. 鈥淭hey鈥檙e voting on moving this process forward.鈥�
鈥楴ot going to stop鈥�
Donna Beverage, the chair of the Union County Board of Commissioners, ran the Oct. 12 meeting more like a listening session than a planning meeting.
鈥淭he legislators are the ones that have the power in this,鈥� she said. 鈥淎nd I believe our job is to listen to our constituents, which that鈥檚 what we鈥檙e doing.鈥�
Grant Darrow, a Union County leader for Greater Idaho, was one of four people who attended the meeting to speak in favor of the concept. He echoed McCarter, the Greater Idaho president, in pointing out the struggles of keeping people engaged in the project.
Darrow said he formed a Union County-centric spin-off group, but despite building an email list of 33 people, he once held a meeting attended by only one person.
McCarter attributed this trend to a number of factors, including people being in 鈥渟urvival mode鈥� during a period of inflation and rising fuel costs 鈥� and general voter apathy. A similar trend could also be felt a few hundred miles south in Lake County.
McCarter told the county commissioners that no Greater Idaho representatives were able to make it to a September meeting in Lake County. According to Lake County Board of Commissioner meeting minutes, the four attendees at that meeting were not pushing to join Idaho.
鈥淭he constituents in attendance were in consensus that they would rather have better representation than anything else,鈥� meeting minutes from commissioner鈥檚 assistant Melanie Lasley state. 鈥淭hey have felt a lot of disrespect by people from the (Willamette) valley, and don鈥檛 agree with a lot of the political decisions that have been made. There is fear that Eastern Oregonians will not want to separate from the social service programs and higher minimum wage that Oregon offers.鈥�
The potential challenges of switching states were brought up multiple times in La Grande, including questions about how to balance Idaho and Oregon鈥檚 different policies on issues such as water rights, land use laws and cannabis.
McCarter said all those issues could be sorted out in state-level negotiations, but he had trouble getting Eastern Oregon legislators to push for the idea while they waited to see how the current election cycle.
Greater Idaho has gotten further with the Idaho Legislature. In 2021,. But the reaction from Idaho legislators was mixed, with some senators having the same questions Oregon officials did about the differences in policies.
Union County isn鈥檛 receiving much guidance from Idaho either. Commissioner Paul Anderes said he sent a letter to Idaho Gov. Brad Little four times to get his thoughts on the matter and has yet to hear back.
Greater Idaho also isn鈥檛 finding much solace in a potential Christine Drazan governorship. At an Oregon Newspaper Publishers Association forum in August, the Republican candidate for Oregon governor echoed many of Greater Idaho鈥檚 talking points before pivoting to the need to create a 鈥渦nified Oregon.鈥�
鈥淭here is a lack of understanding from Salem about what it really means to live in the rural parts of the state,鈥� she said. 鈥淎nd a lot of the proposals that are rammed down their throats are not workable, not welcome, and nobody in Salem has been accommodating enough to recognize that we need to be a unified Oregon.鈥�
McCarter was skeptical of this approach.
鈥淭here鈥檚 a desire to bring both sides back together,鈥� he said. 鈥淚 don鈥檛 know how that鈥檚 going to work. It hasn鈥檛 happened in the past with it.鈥�
Back in La Grande, Union County commissioners occasionally chimed in with their own logistical questions for McCarter. Commissioner Matt Scarfo asked how long before Greater Idaho achieved its goal.
McCarter said he couldn鈥檛 provide a timeline, but he did promise that Greater Idaho would continue its mission of adjoining rural Oregon to Idaho beyond ballot measures.
鈥淚 don鈥檛 know what鈥檚 going to come up in front of us,鈥� he said. 鈥淏ut I can tell you that the greater Idaho movement is not going to stop. We鈥檙e not giving up. Even when we run out of counties, and we鈥檝e got all the county votes and everything else.鈥�
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