Why these Americans want to quit their state

As America gears up for elections in November, the gap between Democrats and Republicans seems wider than ever. Issues like abortion and the green agenda polarise communities across the country. So much so that in one state, some residents are taking radical action.

On the west coast, Democrat-led Oregon sits next to the Republican state of Idaho.

But despite its left-leaning reputation, a huge swathe of the east of Oregon is conservative and votes Republican.

Now, fed up with being run by liberals who outnumber them in the cities, they’re campaigning to move the state line and join Idaho.

Twelve counties have already voted in favour of breaking away, with one more – Crook County – voting this week.

Trouble brewing

Amidst Oregon’s vast, tranquil beauty, there’s trouble brewing – a state that’s tearing itself apart. On one side of the divide, rural conservative communities that hark back to a different era. On the other side, liberals in the cities push a progressive agenda.

It’s the same divide seen across America, but here some want to take the extreme measure of cutting the state in two. If you want to talk about great divides in America, this is literally it. This is where Oregon goes from being liberal to conservative. On one side, it’s majority Democrat, mainly urban. On the other, it’s rural communities that vote Republican.

And it’s that polarisation, just like in other parts of America, that’s growing deeper and wider. Some conservatives want to redraw the state lines to make their side of Oregon join the deeply Republican neighbouring state of Idaho.

Guns drawn

At the Cowboy Fast Draw state championship in Prineville, Crook County, competitors line up in pairs. The cowboy who draws their gun the fastest wins the day. It’s a fair fight, but they say that’s not the case when it comes to politics in Oregon.

“The bigger cities that have the most votes on everything, that are trying to dictate everything to the people, it makes it hard. When you’re in the smaller communities like that, you don’t really have a voice any more,” one competitor tells me.

Another says: “It’s people that think that livestock is bad, that cutting timber is bad, that farming is bad.”

This is a celebration of the Old West, a time and a way of life the people here want to hold on to. But now they feel it’s under threat from liberals in the cities pushing LGBTQ rights, the green agenda and gun control.

‘Shooting guns since I was five’

“Growing up with guns, been shooting guns since I was probably five. It’s a right that we’ve had and hopefully we keep forever,” says competitor Scrub Brush, who feel his gun rights are under threat. “Oh, yes. They keep pushing for them and I really do feel they’re under threat. They don’t understand the life that we have. Asked if he would vote to join Idaho, he says he would.

For people like Matt McCaw, it’s about a connection to this stunning land, and that breaking away will make the politics as calming as these surroundings.

Matt is now a key figure in the Greater Idaho movement, the campaign that wants to redraw the state lines. Twelve counties in eastern Oregon have already voted in favour of joining Idaho, and Matt says that “on almost every issue, we’re so far apart it’s difficult to find compromise”.

I ask if he’s concerned that America will just be red and blue states, with everyone siloed.

‘Polar opposites’

Matt McCaw, Greater Idaho Movement: “What you’re saying is that we shouldn’t divide up a state like Oregon, which has two very different groups of people with very different value sets. We shouldn’t divide that up, because that will cause things to be more polarised. But if you leave these people together, it’s not going to change how polarised those groups get. What we’re saying is, if you continue to force people that want polar opposite things together, that is not a productive or healthy way to run a society.”

Barely an hour away to the west are the people that Matt wants to cut himself off from. At the Homegrown Music Festival in the city of Bend, it’s a celebration of cannabis culture in a state where many drugs have been legalised. It’s that left-leaning outlook that makes many here proud of living in Oregon, and they just don’t understand the other side.

‘National split’

One says: “Those people east of us here are much more conservative, much more homogeneous.” I ask him if he has much in common with them and he says “only family ties” and that the divides are deepening. “Yes, they are deepening. It’s tied in with the national split that we’re experiencing. There’s a lot of people feeling really frustrated because they feel left out.”

Back across the east-west divide in conservative Crook County, liberals are few and far between. But there are some who don’t want their state to be divided. Democrat Priscilla Smith and her friends are holding a rally on the main road in Prineville. Priscilla is campaigning because she does not want her family to suddenly find themselves part of Idaho, a state with a near-total ban on abortion.

‘Listening is an art’

Priscilla Smith, Crook County Democrats: “I am in total disagreement with their attitudes toward women’s health, and my concern is for my granddaughters, for my daughters-in-law. What happens to their health if we become part of Idaho?”

I ask if she understands why some people say Oregon doesn’t really speak for them any more

Priscilla Smith, Crook County Democrats: “If they really want to achieve change, they could work within the government we have, to make their voices heard without threatening to burn the house down. Listening is an art, and it has to work both ways.”

Priscilla went along to a Q&A held by Matt in Prineville ahead of a vote later in May. Matt says the vote “is a big deal, we’re voting to send a message to Salem”.

Priscilla Smith, Crook County Democrats: “We have a real angst about with Idaho, their position on LGBTQ. I have a grandchild who’s trans, how is their life going to be affected?”

Matt McCaw, Greater Idaho Movement: “Most people don’t want gender confusion for our kids. We don’t want teachers and adults and doctors telling our kids that they can be whatever gender they want to be.”

It’s culture wars at the local level, a rural-urban division playing out all across the Union with no signs of it calming down as the country approaches yet another decisive presidential election.