Two leaders of the successful referendum to remove Britain from the European Union were recently in California, where they said favorable things about the newest version of a plan to split the state in pieces. As Arron Banks told a British newspaper, “It’s the world’s sixth largest economy, and it’s very badly run.” He isn’t the only person to believe that a breakup may be the best way to solve California’s intractable problems.Some news reports about the Yes California independence campaign used the term “Calexit,” which makes for good headlines because it sounds like “Brexit,” but it’s confusing. Some left-leaning activists indeed are pushing a far-fetched “Calexit” idea to create a new California nation, something that has gained publicity after Donald Trump’s victory shocked Democratic-dominant California. This Yes California campaign has a ballpark-zero chance of gaining traction. It’s mostly about venting.
While creating a new nation would tear the United States asunder, redrawing state boundaries is nowhere near as unthinkable — or as dangerous — as some suggest.
“We should explore creating more states so we have a democracy that’s closer to the people,” said Scott Baugh, a former Republican assemblyman who met with Mr. Banks and Nigel Farage when they were in Orange County to receive an award. California has nearly 40 million people and is growing. At what point is the population too large for a single state? he wondered in a recent interview. That’s a question Californians have been asking since the early days of the state’s existence.
When a motley crew of American settlers, native-born “Californios” and European immigrants assembled in Monterey in 1849 for a constitutional convention, there was wide disagreement about where to put the eastern boundary for the proposed state of California. Some wanted an enormous state that would have encompassed a lot of modern-day Utah.
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