'Greater Idaho' supporters react to midterm elections

For some, the midterm elections came as a surprise.

But David Jaques, owner and publisher of the Roseburg Beacon and leader of the Greater Idaho movement in Douglas County, says he wasn't surprised.

In the November midterm election, voters in Wheeler County passed a measure aimed at advancing the movement to become part of Idaho.

In Morrow County, voters passed a measure requiring the board of commissioners to hold meetings about the proposal to relocate Oregon's border.

The Greater Idaho movement aims to cut Oregon vertically in half down the Cascades and have everything east of Bend become part of Idaho.

The aim is to redraw state lines to better match political views.

In order to change state borders, the proposal would have to pass both state legislatures and the U.S. Congress.

"We want to be governed by someone with a like mind and that’s what we don’t have today," Jaques said.

Jaques is a lifelong Oregonian with no plans to move to Idaho. But he hopes he may not have to.

Jaques says the midterm election results only made the movement more important.

“Whether it’s gun control education policy, this nonsense about the transgender movement—those things are not taking route in Idaho."

In addition to Wheeler and Morrow, nine other counties have voted - not to join the movement, but to further examine the issue.

In May 2022, a measure to examine the issue failed in Douglas County, with 47% support.

Since then, the movement redrew the proposed border to exclude southern Oregon, but members in Douglas County still plan on advocating for better representation.

Mike Boyer, another member of Greater Idaho in Douglas County, says he wants to join Idaho because he does not support the right to have an abortion or "the homosexual life."

Jaques believes the future of the movement in the County will depend on what residents want.

He says he plans on educating more people in Douglas County about the movement in the near future.