‘Greater Idaho’ measure repealed in Wallowa County, a blow to long-standing border-moving effort
After years of debate over whether rural eastern and southern Oregon would be better off as part of Idaho, Wallowa County has become the first in Oregon to reverse course on the push to leave the state.
On Tuesday, Wallowa County voters approved Measure 32-011 with approximately 61% support, or just over 2,000 votes in the sparsely populated county. The measure repeals a past mandate for county commissioners to hold twice-yearly meetings to discuss joining Idaho. Around 39% of voters sought to continue the state-swapping discussions.
The vote overturns a 2023 measure that supported the so-called “Greater Idaho movement.” The measure three years ago passed by seven votes.
Wallowa is the only Oregon county of the 13 that have voted to consider switching to Idaho to later overturn the effort.
The county initiatives passed in support of Greater Idaho are largely symbolic. Counties do not have the authority to leave the state. Relocating the border would require approval from both the Idaho and Oregon legislatures, as well as the U.S. Congress, all of which are highly unlikely to ever occur.
The Greater Idaho movement emerged from frustrations among many rural, conservative Oregonians, who often feel overlooked by the state’s Democratic-controlled legislature. Its supporters argue that rural Oregon counties are more culturally and politically aligned with Idaho, and that relocating the border to include them in the Gem State would mean greater freedom and more economic opportunity for them.
Shawna Jannuzi, a petitioner for the Wallowa County repeal effort, said many voters who switched course in the county recognized that the state-swap idea was impractical.
“One of the reasons it lost support is they realized the county commissioners can’t move the needle” on actually making it happen, Jannuzzi said. “And the realization that Idaho doesn’t really want us. It would cost them billions of dollars. Idaho’s minimum wage is much lower. It would just restructure a lot of things.”
Jannuzzi said she hopes the political conversation in the county now will shift to how to get better representation for rural issues in the Oregon Legislature.
Michael McCarter, the LaPine resident who launched the Move Oregon’s Border citizens group, said his movement is coordinating with similar grass-roots border-relocation attempts in other states, including Washington, Illinois and New York.
He added that he’s not concerned by Tuesday’s vote result.
“I’m glad the people in Wallowa County spoke out. It is not a big issue for us at all,” he said. “We’re not giving up on it. There’s no blueprint on how to go about doing something like this.”