In the latest bit of symbolic and theatrical pushback on California's redistricting plan, which is intended to take five Republican-held seats in Congress and hand them to Democrats, two inland counties in Northern California are taking votes on a new secession plan.
The plan, being pushed in part by state Assemblyman James Gallagher, would take California's 35 inland counties, which tend to vote more conservatively, and form a new state that would be separate from the 23 counties nearer to and on the coast. Gallagher, who is from Yuba City, has pushed for county supervisors in Yuba and Sutter counties to take votes to approve the plan — which will obviously go nowhere if it ever reaches the Democrat-controlled legislature for an actual vote.
"This morning, I’m saying, ‘Gavin, let my people go.’ We would like a better way forward, and we can no longer abide a government that gives us no voice," Gallagher said at a press conference announcing the plan, per the California Post.
Gallagher is now running for Congress.
The secession push dates back to a legislative resolution that Gallagher first introduced in August 2025, which argued that California's sheer size in comparison to other states is a good reason to divide it into two states.
The text of the resolution also adds a "whereas" that says, "The citizens of northern California and inland regions have long been frustrated at being subjected to laws and regulations that they and their representatives have overwhelmingly opposed, but were nonetheless passed and authorized by the more populous coastal regions of California."
This resolution predated and perhaps foreshadowed the passage of Prop 50, which passed overwhelmingly in November, and which will temporarily dilute the political influence of many of the state's less populated inland areas.
Previous secession movements, like the push to establish the State of Jefferson in northern California and southern Oregon, date back decades but have failed to get off the ground.
Voicing his support for the secession resolution, Yuba County Supervisor Andy Vasquez Jr. tells the Post, "If you look at the funds Governor Newsom has wasted, both on the train to nowhere… homelessness… the amount of corruption in this state is unbelievable. We’re ruled by San Francisco, Los Angeles. We don’t have any choice."
Supervisors in Yuba and Sutter counties were expected to pass the symbolic resolution this week, and it's not clear whether any other inland counties will follow suit.
Related: Republicans Sue to Try to Stop Prop 50 From Taking Effect
