By Virginia Cooper
As Denver grows and makes big decisions for Coloradans, 11 counties feel their rural needs are being overshadowed.
With the new gun policy and legalization of marijuana, northern Colorado feels it does not share the same stance with urbanized Denver, since Denver tends to be more liberal and these 11 counties tend to be more conservative. The 10 counties of Weld, Washington, Phillips, Logan, Kit Carson, Sedgwick, Yuma, Lincoln, Elbert, and Cheyenne wish to secede from Colorado, and Moffat County in northwestern Colorado is also seeking the same secession.
These 11 counties account for almost half of Colorado’s oil wells, a majority of farmland, and have significantly low crimes rates. Because these counties prove to hold a valuable seat in Colorado’s overall success, they feel they could attain promise as a 51st state. As November approaches, all these counties will be making the vote on secession.
Colorado could actually benefit if the 11 counties seceded by having more spending for education, but according to the I-News analysis report, the 11 counties would have to pay for state-paid institutions like colleges and prisons. The recent flood in Weld County affected the area tremendously, but due to their financial stability as a county, Weld was able to reopen roads without the help from the rest of the state. However, the other counties might not be able to hold up without the help from Colorado.
Governor John Hickenlooper has negative opinions on the possibility of secession. Hickenlooper says, “If this talk of a 51st state is about politics designed to divide us, it is destructive. But if it is about sending a message, then I see our responsibility to lean in and do a better job of listening.”
Not everyone in the 11 counties thinks secession is the solution, Tom Norton, mayor of Greeley, feels that the answer is to work with Denver and collaborate to fix the problem, rather than escape.
Even if the ballot issue receives enough votes, the Colorado Legislature and the remaining state voters would have to agree in order to send the proposal to Congress. From Congress, the state and federal government would have to agree as well, and this seems unlikely. Granted the last time a state seceded was in 1863, when West Virginia seceded from Virginia, because Virginia joined the Union.
Proponents for the secession are hopeful, but in the meantime, Hickenlooper, mayors and other legal advisors will try to keep the state together and encourage solutions, rather than separation.
