{"id":1274,"date":"2026-02-06T10:00:00","date_gmt":"2026-02-06T10:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/stuorgs2.gcc.edu\/thecollegian\/2026\/02\/06\/2026-02-06-oregon-should-secede\/"},"modified":"2026-10-06T23:11:02","modified_gmt":"2026-10-06T23:11:02","slug":"2026-02-06-oregon-should-secede","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/stuorgs2.gcc.edu\/thecollegian\/2026\/02\/06\/2026-02-06-oregon-should-secede\/","title":{"rendered":"Oregon should\u00a0secede"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

By Christa Bashinski<\/a> · Entertainment Editor<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
\u2014 WIKIPEDIA<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

The East and West are in a fight.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Oregon has been dealing with increasing polarization between the two regions since the anti-police riots in 2020.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The eastern side of the state is generally comprised of traditionalists, predominantly home to farmers, ranchers, miners and the like. The western side, albeit smaller, has cities like Portland and Salem that make up for their size with a dense population. Eastern Oregon makes up two-thirds of the state by area, but its city brethren host most of the population.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The two have big differences in policy preferences. Portland, known for its liberal governance, is a far cry from the East’s call for less regulation and more local control.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Greater Idaho Movement is the product of this conflict. Eastern Oregon is attempting to redraw its state boundaries to relocate fourteen of its counties and several partial counties into Idaho.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Mike McCarter, the president of the movement, explained the rationale by saying, “For the last three years, we’ve been asking voters what they want for their state government. They’re telling us through these votes that they want their leaders to move the border. In our system, the people are in charge, and it’s time for their representatives to follow through.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Local advisory votes have been heavily cited as support, with many of the eastern counties passing ballot measures in favor of the change. Some counties have even passed ordinances that require leaders to regularly meet with legislators about next steps. While this is progress, the movement’s success relies on approval by the Oregon legislature, Idaho legislature and U.S. Congress, which is something much easier said than done.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

However, there is another solution. Oregon could (and should) secede.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This is not unprecedented. The United States seceded from Great Britain. Texas attempted to secede from the United States. While this effort was ultimately blocked by the Supreme Court in Texas v. White, an exception could (and should) be made.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As The Collegian News Editor Matthew Purucker eloquently put it, “Oregon, more like Ore-gone.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Oregon is clearly unhappy. And much of the country is unhappy with it. It’s only fair that we cut it loose.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Considering the state’s homelessness, violent crime and high cost of living, it has become a burden on its citizens.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

According to The Oregonian, homelessness increased by 35% from 2020 to 2023, with Daily Tidings finding an additional 35% surge from 2023 to 2025. Additionally, experts suggest that these numbers are understated, with ECOnorthwest reporting that the state spent $700 million in 2024 to find a solution.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

City-Data has shown that despite Oregon’s 51% decrease in violent crime, Portland’s crime rate is still 2.1 times greater than the national average and higher than 95% of U.S. cities. To make matters worse, Oregon’s cost of living is 14.3% higher than the national average, with housing listed 38.5% above the national average by Best Places. This is particularly problematic when the unemployment rate is 5.2%, which is once again above the national average.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

There are clear problems. There’s a clear answer. Fifty states feel like a lot, anyway.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The East and West are in a fight. Oregon has been dealing with increasing polarization between the two regions since the anti-police riots in 2020. The eastern side of the state is<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":12,"featured_media":667,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_uag_custom_page_level_css":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[216],"tags":[96,43,18],"class_list":["post-1274","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-staff-editorials","tag-christa-bashinski","tag-issue-2026-02-06","tag-news"],"uagb_featured_image_src":{"full":["\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/6\/2026\/09\/2026-02-06-24-oregon-should-secede-1.jpg",917,920,false],"thumbnail":["\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/6\/2026\/09\/2026-02-06-24-oregon-should-secede-1.jpg",150,150,false],"medium":["\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/6\/2026\/09\/2026-02-06-24-oregon-should-secede-1.jpg",300,300,false],"medium_large":["\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/6\/2026\/09\/2026-02-06-24-oregon-should-secede-1.jpg",768,771,false],"large":["\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/6\/2026\/09\/2026-02-06-24-oregon-should-secede-1.jpg",917,920,false],"1536x1536":["\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/6\/2026\/09\/2026-02-06-24-oregon-should-secede-1.jpg",917,920,false],"2048x2048":["\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/6\/2026\/09\/2026-02-06-24-oregon-should-secede-1.jpg",917,920,false]},"uagb_author_info":{"display_name":"Ian Schartner","author_link":"https:\/\/stuorgs2.gcc.edu\/thecollegian\/author\/schartnerij23\/"},"uagb_comment_info":0,"uagb_excerpt":"The East and West are in a fight. Oregon has been dealing with increasing polarization between the two regions since the anti-police riots in 2020. The eastern side of the state is","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/stuorgs2.gcc.edu\/thecollegian\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1274","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/stuorgs2.gcc.edu\/thecollegian\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/stuorgs2.gcc.edu\/thecollegian\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stuorgs2.gcc.edu\/thecollegian\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/12"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stuorgs2.gcc.edu\/thecollegian\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1274"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/stuorgs2.gcc.edu\/thecollegian\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1274\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1775,"href":"https:\/\/stuorgs2.gcc.edu\/thecollegian\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1274\/revisions\/1775"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stuorgs2.gcc.edu\/thecollegian\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/667"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/stuorgs2.gcc.edu\/thecollegian\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1274"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stuorgs2.gcc.edu\/thecollegian\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1274"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stuorgs2.gcc.edu\/thecollegian\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1274"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}