Wednesday, November 14, 2012

Seceding or joining the union 2012 election

Puerto Rico is the only place that actually took a vote and it voted for statehood.

There's been talk of petitions in some red states about seceding from the union after Obama's victory in the November 6th election, but the only place that actually took a vote on statehood was Puerto Rico. Voted in favor of joining statehood during the November 6th election. I think the union of USA is pretty safe if it were to actually come to a vote rather than just a few people signing petitions. Even in the so called "red states."

As for divisiveness in this country, urban versus rural may be more of a fracture point than red states versus blue states. Here in Whatcom County, the 42nd legislative district sent two Republicans to the state legislature November 6th. The 42 district is largely the rural part of Whatcom County north of Bellingham. Democrats were elected in the 40th district which is mostly in urban Bellingham and extends down into Skagit County.

The divide between 40th and 42nd legislative districts was real distinct in 2012 election. It was a race between Democrat Jeff Morris and Green Party candidate Howard Pellett in the 40th district. No Republican made it past the primary in Washington State's "top two" primary for that position. Jeff Morris won in the general election.

Several years ago, there were actually two secessionist movements in Whatcom County. Both in areas north of Bellingham. One was called Pioneer County while the other was called Independence County (If I remember correctly). Now these are just memories.

I got to thinking, if more liberal Bellingham and areas south were to also secede, the county courthouse might be the only thing left in Whatcom County. The courthouse grounds could be renamed "Scapegoat County." since everyone can blame their problems on being in Whatcom County. After secession, people might discover that they still have their problems, however.

1 comment:

Theslowlane Robert Ashworth said...

Part of the reason for the county secessionist movement that took place back in the 1990s was the way Washington State's growth management law was written. The law which attempts to curb sprawl by concentrating development into already urbanizing areas only applied to counties that had less than 50,000 people. If our county was split into more than one county, the break away parts would have had less than 50,000 people in them. That could be a way for land owners to get out of having to comply with provisions of the state growth management laws as they were written at the time (as I remember at least).