Opinion: The Greater Idaho Movement fails to recognize the dangers and problematic nature of redrawing state lines due to a large cultural divide.
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Anyone who has spent time traveling or living in Oregon has realized the vastness of this state’s urban and rural cultural divide. A 10-minute drive in any direction from any of Oregon’s more populous cities will prove this. In one moment, every store is covered with progressive signs and messages and then boom… Trump merchandise and Confederate insignia glitter Oregon’s rural towns and communities.

It is no surprise that many of these rural communities feel such a strong disconnect from the Democratic majority Oregon State Government. This disconnect is nothing new, as it has been growing over the years as political extremism has exponentially grown since the 2016 presidential election. Political extremism is dangerous no matter which side one falls on. Eastern Oregon, the state’s highest concentration of conservative ideology, feels the biggest detachment to the Willamette Valley’s leadership and left-leaning ideology. Many of its residents have supported Idaho, a conservative majority state government, to completely absorb their counties in a move known as the Greater Idaho Movement.

The Greater Idaho Movement is rural Oregon’s desperate attempt to find cultural reassurance in their state government. In a CNN interview, Kyung Lah spoke with Sandie Gilson, an Eastern Oregon resident and Greater Idaho Movement supporter, who said that they “don’t think the Oregon Government as a whole and the super majority that has been in power for many decades is listening to Eastern Oregon at all.” This disconnect is so strong that Idaho state Rep. Barbara Ehardt (R) co-sponsored a bill to begin dialogue with Oregon to absorb Eastern Oregon counties. In a time of political division, this bill unsurprisingly passed and now stands before the state senate. If this bill is passed by the state senate, Idaho would then be in the process to redraw state lines for the first time since 1864.

Rep. Ehardrt told Kyung Lah in the same CNN segment that she believes that if these counties are not absorbed into Idaho, then “violence and battle” will ensue internally. As dramatic as that may sound, it is important to emphasize that Eastern Oregon residents do not see a connection to their state government and want to be represented by a state that fits their ideologies. Logically speaking, this makes sense; democratically speaking, this is completely irresponsible and problematic.

In the Idaho House of Representatives, the bill discussing the borders of Oregon and Idaho that has passed onto its state senate makes an interesting point. The bill points out that “the Portland metro area is home to approximately 47% of Oregon’s voters, while accounting for less than 4% of the state’s land mass; WHEREAS, this small urban area is setting policy for the entire State of Oregon and is determining how all people in the State of Oregon, both urban and rural, are governed.”

While this may be understandable, it is wrong to point out that land mass equates to population. This is a repeated conservative rhetorical point that incorrectly represents demographic maps and analysis. It may be true that Eastern Oregon counties contain a conservative majority along with a large percentage of the state’s land mass, but land does not equal people. In a democratically run society it is the people who decide who is in charge. In Oregon’s case, more people live in cities, and their votes are just as important as any Eastern Oregon voter. It makes sense that Oregon has a Democratic majority state government. People are the power, and together they can always be stronger.

Oregonians need to learn to live in harmony with one another as we can find common ground in our shared environment and experiences. We should not give up on unity, and we most definitely should not move forward with the Greater Idaho Movement.

We are all Oregon.