Part of Arizona, embarrassed by the rest of the state, would like to secede (Phoenix: lawyer, home)

[Dragneel]

OVER his second beer at The Shanty in Tucson, a pub popular among Democrats, Paul Eckerstrom gets to the point. “We don’t like Phoenix,” he says of the state capital in Maricopa County to the north, home to more than half of Arizona’s population. So Mr Eckerstrom, a lawyer and former chairman of the Pima County Democratic Party, has launched the long legal process to secede and form a new state, tentatively called Baja Arizona.
This idea of Baja Arizona is not new. Some trace it back to the Gadsden Purchase of 1854, when America bought from Mexico a strip of land south of the Gila river that was not included in the earlier cession after the Mexican-American war. More recently, the Midwestern snowbirds and others who flooded into Arizona mainly settled in Maricopa, making it politically dominant and distinct.


Arizona divided: A tale of two counties | The Economist


wow

[AzDreamer]

Find me one state that doesn't have a county or region that wants to be independent. Washington state has it's East vs West. California has North vs South.

Even within a county there are regions that chafe at the high-handed treatment the majority dishes out. In my county it's the rural farming areas always being told what to do by the big city nannies.

The natural desire of almost everyone is to be able to manage their own affairs. The problem seems to be the desire of some to manage the affairs of others.

[Boompa]

I thought we already had this thread. Free Baja Arizona!!!!

[Valley Native]

Originally Posted by Dragneel

OVER his second beer at The Shanty in Tucson, a pub popular among Democrats, Paul Eckerstrom gets to the point. “We don’t like Phoenix,” he says of the state capital in Maricopa County to the north, home to more than half of Arizona’s population. So Mr Eckerstrom, a lawyer and former chairman of the Pima County Democratic Party, has launched the long legal process to secede and form a new state, tentatively called Baja Arizona.
This idea of Baja Arizona is not new. Some trace it back to the Gadsden Purchase of 1854, when America bought from Mexico a strip of land south of the Gila river that was not included in the earlier cession after the Mexican-American war. More recently, the Midwestern snowbirds and others who flooded into Arizona mainly settled in Maricopa, making it politically dominant and distinct.


Arizona divided: A tale of two counties | The Economist


wow

Mr. Eckerstrom needs to get over himself and take the bitter with the sweet. So he doesn't like the Phoenix area? Well, too bad. Phoenix is the dominant force behind the entire state. Without it, Arizona would be an isolated, sparsely populated state with only Tucson as its only major metro area ... and that's not saying a whole lot.

As AZ Dreamer correctly pointed out, many states are divided on issues. California is one place which has some of the largest division of any other state. L.A. and the Bay Area are the large liberal areas which tend to skew election results heavily, and give the entire state a reputation of being leftist & solid blue. The reality is much of California is moderate or conservative.

Arizona doesn't need to be split into two different states. This idea has been floating around for some time now, and the chances of it actually happening are almost zero.

[Ponderosa]

They don't need to secede; they just need to wait. PHX will always dominate, but the political differences will diminish as the growing Hispanic influence pushes out the historic LDS families and the east valley Republicans who dominate the state now. Both Phoenix and Tucson will be "blue" in 20 years. It'll be the small towns like Safford that want to quit.

[Valley Native]

Originally Posted by Ponderosa

They don't need to secede; they just need to wait. PHX will always dominate, but the political differences will diminish as the growing Hispanic influence pushes out the historic LDS families and the east valley Republicans who dominate the state now. Both Phoenix and Tucson will be "blue" in 20 years. It'll be the small towns like Safford that want to quit.

I hope at the very least that Russell Pearce is voted out of office. I used to have some faith in him when he was the dominating force behind 1070 last year ... and I was glad that serious action was finally being taken against illegal aliens. The problem is that Pearce has gone too far with the anti immigration kick to the point where too many ridiculous bills have been proposed. Then, there was the abortion legislation, the birther bill, the official state firearm bill, and others that were so non essential compared to what should have been focussed on: the BUDGET!

Now, he and others in the Legislature are in hot water with this Fiesta Bowl scandal. The problem is that Pearce is highly popular in his particular voting district, consisting largely of Mormons & social conservatives ... therefore, he will probably be in office until he croaks. He's like a Republican version of Ted Kennedy in Massachusetts, and I don't see his district changing much at all over the next 20 years.

[Ponderosa]

Originally Posted by Valley Native

I hope at the very least that Russell Pearce is voted out of office. I used to have some faith in him when he was the dominating force behind 1070 last year ... and I was glad that serious action was finally being taken against illegal aliens. The problem is that Pearce has gone too far with the anti immigration kick to the point where too many ridiculous bills have been proposed. Then, there was the abortion legislation, the birther bill, the official state firearm bill, and others that were so non essential compared to what should have been focussed on: the BUDGET!

Now, he and others in the Legislature are in hot water with this Fiesta Bowl scandal. The problem is that Pearce is highly popular in his particular voting district, consisting largely of Mormons & social conservatives ... therefore, he will probably be in office until he croaks. He's like a Republican version of Ted Kennedy in Massachusetts, and I don't see his district changing much at all over the next 20 years.

Agree. He seemed to go from rational to off the deep end, there. The old guard will try, at least, to gerrymander their way to keeping power. But even the safe districts will vote out someone if they are bad enough. Remember that guy with the LPG vehicle conversions (Grosscost?). They turned on one of their own in Meacham too when he started to hurt business like Pearce is doing.

[mglindo]

If Paul Eckerstrom objects to the predominant politics of his state, maybe he should vote with his feet and MOVE!

[Boompa]

I will gladly pay double my property taxes to be rid of Phoenix, JT Ready, Russ Pearce, Frau Blucher, Generalissimo Arpaio, McCain and Kyle, all in one swoop. Pure heaven

[Ritchie_az]

Here are the first two threads on this topic:
http://www.city-data.com/forum/arizo...own-state.html
http://www.city-data.com/forum/tucso...na-become.html

I really don't think we need another....