Oregonians fed up with blue state policies are calling for the Beaver State’s border to be moved to neighboring Idaho, where red state policies “actually align with their values.”
Greater Idaho Movement Executive Director Matt McCaul told Fox News Digital that the movement to move Oregon’s border 200 miles west began as an effort to bridge a growing “tug of war” in the Beaver State.
“Oregon is divided geographically by the Cascade Mountains, and that geographic division is also a big cultural division,” McCaw said. “So the western side of Oregon has a different climate, a different economy, a different culture, it’s more urban. It’s a very different place than the eastern side, which is very conservative, traditional farming.”
“In Oregon, you have two very different groups trying to play tug-of-war over state government,” he said.
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The Greater Idaho movement seeks to move the Idaho state line west and the Oregon state line 200 miles west. (Greater Idaho Movement)
Matt McCaw, executive director of the Greater Idaho Movement, spoke to Fox News Digital about the grassroots movement to change Oregon’s borders. (Fox News Digital)
Oregon’s political tug-of-war has created a divisive divide in the western part of the state, exacerbated by residents who have different values and needs than their elected officials.
“Eastern Oregonians are very different from western Oregonians,” McCaw said. “On almost any issue of political importance — immigration, taxes, abortion, gun rights, criminalization or decriminalization of drugs — what eastern Oregonians want for their communities is different from what western Oregonians want.”
The Greater Idaho Movement seeks to change Oregon’s borders to join the more conservative state of Idaho. (Greater Idaho Movement)
The Greater Idaho Movement wants to close this gap by changing Oregon’s borders.
“Why not find a long-term solution where different people have access to different policies that make sense for them, that are for their communities? That would reduce political tensions, that would reduce political conflict. And that’s what people are asking for from politics time and time again,” McCaul said.
The Blue City’s population exodus continues for the third straight year, but the pace is slowing. “People feel trapped.”
“People don’t want partisan bickering,” he said. “What most people want is a bipartisan solution that benefits everyone involved, and that’s our solution and that’s what Greater Idaho is doing.”
“You create a situation where Eastern Oregonians get the government they want and Western Oregonians get the government they want and voted for,” McCaw added, “and all of the political tensions that come from sharing the same state just disappear.”
The western side of Oregon is rainy and densely populated, while the eastern side of the state has a drier climate and is more rural. (Greater Idaho Movement)
The executive director of the Greater Idaho Movement explained that the “urban-rural divide” has existed in Oregon “from the beginning.”
“Since the state was founded, there have always been differences between the east and west sides. A lot of it is simply geography. The west side of Oregon has a completely different terrain and climate than the east, which means people live differently.”
Many eastern Oregon residents are frustrated with Oregon’s response to COVID-19. (Greater Idaho Movement)
McCaul said the differences between eastern and western Oregon have been exacerbated during the coronavirus pandemic, helping to “accelerate” their movement.
“Oregon was one of the states that took the most extreme measures during the COVID-19 outbreak, closing businesses, churches and schools across the state, mandating mask wearing and later mandating vaccinations,” McCaw said. “This was all state policy that was communicated through government agencies such as the Oregon Health Authority, which created these policies for the entire state.”
“It’s a very heavy-handed approach, and here in eastern Oregon, people [here] “We didn’t want that policy,” he said.
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“There’s been incredible conflict and frustration and tension here because of policies being imposed on the eastern side of the state that we didn’t want, and all the while our neighboring state just to the east of us, Idaho, has had a completely different response from their state government,” McCaw said.
McCaul said many Eastern Oregon residents see the pandemic as a wake-up call for residents to want politicians who reflect the values of their community.
“And I think that the policies that were put in place during COVID accelerated this movement because they were so impactful and so negative,” he said. “They made people aware that government can have a very negative impact on our lives. So we need to make sure that our government is aligned with our values, the values of our community, so that the next time something like this happens, we know that our government’s response is the response that our community would want.”
The Greater Idaho Movement argues that the border is an “invisible line.” (Greater Idaho Movement)
“The people should not serve this invisible border. The invisible border should serve the people,” McCaul said of the border.
“This is not a far-fetched idea. In our country, we move invisible boundaries all the time to increase representation for our people,” he explained. “We redistrict every decade, we change them every decade, and nobody bats an eye at that.”
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McCaul argued that moving the Oregon border “actually makes sense.”
“Let’s take that invisible line. Let’s move it to where it actually makes sense – where it actually represents the people and brings together the same kinds of people who want the same kind of government. And let’s use it to ease political tensions and solve problems instead of exacerbating them,” he said.
Matt McCaul told Fox News Digital that the Greater Idaho Movement has been gaining momentum since it was founded four years ago. (Greater Idaho Movement)
McCaul said the movement has been gaining support among residents and local officials since it began just four years ago.
“I visited 13 counties in eastern Oregon and asked voters directly, ‘Do you want our elected leaders to make this boundary change happen?'” McCaw said. “Now that I’ve won all 13 eastern Oregon counties, we’re looking at transferring all or part of 17 counties to Idaho in total.”
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“The people of eastern Oregon want these conversations to be had, and the people of eastern Oregon have a right to have these conversations from their elected leaders on their behalf,” he said.
