Splitting Washington State in two

[liberalpragmatist]

I'm sure I'll get in trouble for suggesting this. :)

Some background -- a friend of mine and I were discussing whether DC should get statehood. My friend argued it could never happen because the GOP does not want to automatically create two new Democratic senators.

I thought then how in the 19th century, it was typical for parties to try and balance the creation of states -- if a Republican state was admitted, they tried to admit a Democratic state as well. Of course, it didn't always work out: the Republicans rammed through several tiny Western states to pad their Senate and Electoral College majorities (that's why there are two Dakotas instead of one -- it had historically been one territory but was admitted as two states).

So... I was thinking about what could be some logical new Republican states. I remembered that in 2005, there were bills proposed in the Washington legislature about splitting the state in two.

Would you be in favor? Dividing the state down the cascades would almost certainly create a Republican state in the eastern half. But it would also make the government of the western part of the state more progressive, and firmly Democratic.



Of course, the chances of this happening are about... 1 in 1000.

[eridani]

1. The red half would play hell trying to pay for their roads and schools n/t

[pscot]

2. I've got a better idea

Let's re-unite the Dakotas, combine Wyoming and Idaho, and withdraw Alasken statehood. DC statehood will take us back to 48 states. I liked that flag.