Now that eastern Oregon and the Idaho House of Representatives have proven that they support the Greater Idaho movement, the movement must now focus on the Oregon Legislature. Summer and Fall are the times of the year when legislators have the most time to read your emails, take your calls, or meet with you. This year’s regular sessions have ended in both states. Soon, many legislators will be focused on winning next years’ elections.

Last month, two Greater Idaho volunteers visited the Multnomah County Democratic Party picnic. Katie wrote “I actually had fun!” They spoke at length with four different state legislators, and were able to significantly improve the attitudes of two legislators toward Greater Idaho. Some of the legislators had never before considered the benefits to western Oregon of moving the state line.

We have worked to put everything into place to make it easy for western Oregon legislators to vote in favor of Greater Idaho. In February, the economic analysis was published and the Idaho House invited the Oregon Legislature to begin talks. A poll was published last year. Unfortunately, most legislators seemed to be too busy during the legislative session to listen to us. We don’t think our message is getting through.

So this is the first summer when everything is published for you to tell your legislators about. Also, newspapers published two new op-eds for western Oregon Democrats. One of them is in the biggest paper in Oregon. We now have gotten op-eds published for western Oregon, for eastern Oregon, and for Idaho. So share these with your legislators! Last summer, not enough of you contacted your legislators. Don’t make that mistake this summer!

Idaho Senators need to hear too, because they haven’t voted yet. Also, Idaho House members need to hear from you because they heard Rep. Ned Burns lie about us on the floor of House during debate. You can correct Ned’s misinformation with this post. They might vote on this again too. Here’s info for contacting Idaho legislators.

It’s time for you to run for office!

This is the perfect time to become a candidate before the primary elections next year in May. In Oregon, you can open a campaign committee to accept campaign funds as early as September 1. Contact your legislator and find out if he’s running again. 10 Oregon state senators are disqualified from running again, unless they convince the judge otherwise. Some of them leave an open seat next year: Art Robinson, Brian Boquist, Tim Knopp, Bill Hansell, and Lynn Findley. Senator Hansell announced his retirement anyway. Some believe that Sen. Findley will retire and Rep. Mark Owens will leave his seat open to run for Sen. Findley’s seat. Consider the office of County Clerk or Commissioner too.

If you live in Idaho, some candidates win elections without spending anything. You might want to replace a state legislator who voted against our resolution. Their names are in red below.

We’d like to see how many of you want to attend. Even though it’s still four months away, please reserve a spot if you plan to attend by emailing

County Commissioner meetings on Greater Idaho are coming up in Oregon in Morrow, Jefferson, Wallowa, Malheur, Lake, and Union counties. Please attend to tell your commissioners why they should get the Eastern Oregon Counties Association to endorse Greater Idaho.

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[Editor’s Note: This article is reposted from an email update from the Greater Idaho movement, whose website is linked below.]