California Split: And We’re Not Talking Earthquakes

By Brennan Nick

Last week, the founders of New California declared their independence from the rest of the state. With their own Declaration of Independence, they took a step to forming a 51st state. Within this Declaration of Independence, in their list of grievances, they describe California as being “ungovernable.” Their plan in the separation of New California is to take many of the western and northern counties in California–many of which are rural–and separate them from the big cities of the Bay Area and Los Angeles. Furthermore, the founders of New California can also be quoted saying, “The current state of California has become governed by a tyranny” (USA Today). Here is a map showing how they plan to divide California:

 

 

Now, let’s be real; this is not going to happen. However, this has not been the first time a group of people have wanted to partition the state:

 

1965: The California State Senate voted on dividing California with the Tehachapi Mountains as the boundary. It failed.

1992: State Assemblyman Stan Statham sponsored a bill to allow a referendum in each county partitioning California into three new states: North, Central, and South California.

2009: Former State Assemblyman Bill Maze wanted to split some coastal counties which usually vote Democratic into a separate state, citing how “conservatives don’t have a voice” and how Los Angeles and San Francisco “control the state” (Downsize California webpage).

2013: Some Californians living in the far north wanted to found their own state of Jefferson with some Oregon counties.

2013: Tim Draper, a venture capitalist, proposed to split California into six new states, citing “improved representation, governance, and competition between industries”(“Six Californias”).

Seeing as no other state has this frequency of partitionist movements, this is indicative of large divisions in such a massive state. Let’s take a look at what these divisions may be.

We usually refer to Northern California as NorCal and Southern California as SoCal. The reasons we say this have a greater reason than simple geography. Northern California with the big cities of San Francisco and San Jose is known for its progressive, liberal streak. Meanwhile, Southern California with the suburbs of LA, San Diego, and Orange County brings a more conservative tone. This can be seen in the election of governors such as Arnold Schwarzenegger and Ronald Reagan whose vote tallies were carried by Southern California suburbs. Meanwhile, San Francisco would vote the most against them. This was the dynamic in California politics for decades–the North voting Democrat and the South voting Republican. The Southern California shift towards “blue” occurred during the campaigns of Bill Clinton.

In recent years, however, this North-South Divide has turned into an East-West divide, with the urban West Coast finding common goals in the state legislature while the rural eastern interior feeling left behind. This can be seen with Orange County. Once one of the most conservative counties in the state, this year it voted in majority for Hillary Clinton and against Donald Trump.

These eastern counties could even be argued as having more in common with those in rural Oregon, Nevada, and Arizona than urban California, and this is the reason why some people in the far north of California want to found their own state by the name of Jefferson. Just consider what you think when someone says “Northern California.” You don’t immediately think of the far northern county of Trinity; you think of San Francisco, or Sacramento.

Nevertheless, these are the divisions that come with having a state of such land area and population size. These divisions have always existed and always will exist as long as California exists.

 

Editor: Claire Jenkins