The Washington Post is reporting that a group of Marylanders living in Western Maryland are making an effort to have five counties in Western Maryland (Garrett, Allegany, Washington, Frederick and Carroll) secede from the State of Maryland. Apparently, these residents are not happy with the "liberal" legislation passed in the State of Maryland such as gay marriage and gun control. According to Scott Strzelcyk, the leader of that movement:
If you think you have a long list of grievances and it’s been going on for decades, and you can’t get it resolved, ultimately this is what you have to do,” says Strzelczyk, who lives in New Windsor, a historic town of 1,400 people in Carroll County. “Otherwise you are trapped.”
http://www.washingtonpost.com/...
The movement in Maryland is not the only one in the country. The Washington Post reports that there are similar efforts in Michigan, Colorado and California.
While it is easy to not take these efforts seriously (according to The Washington Post Strzelczyk lacks an official website), I think that there is a danger in doing so. If efforts such as this one are successful and those seceding form a new state rather than having the seceding counties join a different state, the creation of the new state would come with two additional "Red State" Senators, which could shift the balance of power in the Senate in favor of the Republicans.
And at least one of the efforts appears to be going somewhere. The Washington Post reports that Weld County, in Northern Colorado, has been able to get a nonbinding referendum on the November ballot for Weld and other northern Colorado States to form a new state.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/...
http://www.washingtonpost.com/...
No doubt that this proposed 51st State in Colorado would be Republican
Of the ten counties that have had discussions about forming a 51st state — Cheyenne, Kit Carson, Lincoln, Logan, Morgan, Phillips, Sedgwick, Washington, Weld and Yuma — nine gave Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney more than 62 percent of the vote. (In fact five of them gave Romney three quarters of the vote or more). Weld County went for Romney by the relatively slim margin of 55 percent to 42 percent.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/...
Fortunately, it will not be easy for these efforts to prevail. Secession must be approved by the State Legislature and the U.S. Congress. But difficult is not impossible, as the State of West Virginia proves. And so we need to keep our eyes on these types of efforts.
P.S. Please take a minute to vote in the unscientific poll in The Washington Post asking whether these Maryland Counties should be allowed to form their own state. Right now, the poll results are 48% in favor, and 52% opposed.