Dividing California into two states advisory vote, 1992

[RBH]

Here's a map of how the vote went.. totals are listed here: http://www.sos.ca.gov/elections/sov/1992-primary/1992-primary-sov.pdf



Some background

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[Meeker]

Why was it only on the ballot in 31 counties?

[Padfoot]

perhaps if this had been pursued to its end Cali wouldn't be in such a mess right now.

[Хahar 🤔]

Secession referendum, 1859.

I haven't got the data on me, but I can get it from the library if anyone's interested.

[RBH]

Why was it only on the ballot in 31 counties?

counties had the option to put it on

[Verily]

There's huge support for Northern California secession in the Central Valley. There's a strong feeling that SoCal is draining both the economic viability and--more importantly--the water of the region. My relatives in the Sacramento area are all big NorCal separatists, some very liberal and some very conservative.

Of course, people in far northern California may have interpreted it as a referendum on the creation of the State of Jefferson, which is a different separatist movement in far northern California and southern Oregon that is basically far-right and ruralist.

perhaps if this had been pursued to its end Cali wouldn't be in such a mess right now.

Well, yes and no. SoCal would be completely screwed. They would have run out of water.

[jimrtex]

Here's a map of how the vote went.. totals are listed here: http://www.sos.ca.gov/elections/sov/1992-primary/1992-primary-sov.pdf

It must have passed.

Some background

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Abraham Lincoln is more responsible for the division of Virginia than Jefferson Davis.

[Хahar 🤔]

perhaps if this had been pursued to its end Cali wouldn't be in such a mess right now.

Well, yes and no. SoCal would be completely screwed. They would have run out of water.

We wouldn't have droughts because of them, certainly.

[Queen Mum Inks.LWC]

Why was it only on the ballot in 31 counties?

Because it was non-binding, so some counties probably didn't care enought to put it on.

[Хahar 🤔]

Secession referendum, 1859.

I haven't got the data on me, but I can get it from the library if anyone's interested.

Nobody cares?

[memphis]

Secession referendum, 1859.

I haven't got the data on me, but I can get it from the library if anyone's interested.

Nobody cares?

Why is that one county so different? Where is it anyway?

[muon2]

Secession referendum, 1859.

I haven't got the data on me, but I can get it from the library if anyone's interested.

Nobody cares?

Why is that one county so different? Where is it anyway?

It's San Luis Obispo, and historically is not that close to SoCal being part of the Central Coast. I don't know how relevant that is to the 1859 referendum.

[Хahar 🤔]

Secession referendum, 1859.

I haven't got the data on me, but I can get it from the library if anyone's interested.

Nobody cares?

Why is that one county so different? Where is it anyway?

It's San Luis Obispo, and historically is not that close to SoCal being part of the Central Coast. I don't know how relevant that is to the 1859 referendum.

Unfortunately, I haven't got much background information on this referendum, but it was over slavery, and San Luis Obispo's topography does not lend itself to a slave-based economy in the same way that the others do.

But the vote total in this referendum was suspiciously low; as I recall, Los Angeles County was the only one where the losing side got more than a few dozen votes.

EDIT:

San Luis Obispo County voting history:

1852	Scott
1856	Frémont
1860	Breckinridge
1864	Lincoln
1868	Grant
1872	Grant
1876	Tilden
1880	Garfield

1852 and 1856 were by rather large margins, which makes 1860 all the more interesting (though Breckinridge did not break 30%).

[ottermax]

Does anyone think that the sprawl outwards from the Bay Area would change the vote if it were held today? I'm surprised that Napa County supported it.

[jimrtex]

Secession referendum, 1859.

I haven't got the data on me, but I can get it from the library if anyone's interested.

Nobody cares?

Why is that one county so different? Where is it anyway?

San Luis Obispo.  In 1860 it had 1782 people, so it wouldn't have been very many people voting. The long tail to the SE is along the intermittent Cuayama River.  It must have been chopped off when Ventura County was formed, mostly from the eastern portion of Santa Barbara County.

In 1860 San Luis Obispo, Fresno, San Diego, and Los Angeles voted for Breckinridge.  San Bernadino voted for Lincoln, and Santa Barbara voted for Douglas.

I did find something on the 1859 referendum that said that the original proposal left some ambiguity about where San Luis Obispo would be placed, but the legislature had later modified the plan to include it in the south.  The plan eventually presented to Congress had the 37th parallel as the boundary.  This is just north of the current SLO, Kern, San Bernadino northern boundaries.  So perhaps an earlier version had used a boundary more perpendicular to coast and the Sierra Nevada.

What history I could find suggests the area was quite remote from the rest of the state, with the railroad from Los Angeles not reaching the city of San Luis Obispo until 1901.

[Hash]

1856	Frémont
1860	Breckinridge
1864	Lincoln

Interesting.

[Хahar 🤔]

A Google search for "California referendum 1859" reveals that this is the only page on the Internet that mentions the 1859 referendum. What does that say?

[Cubby]

A Google search for "California referendum 1859" reveals that this is the only page on the Internet that mentions the 1859 referendum. What does that say?

That people are too busy wasting their time on !#%&(@$  Facebook.

Changes to state boundaries would be a good thing, in my opinion. But since even county boundaries haven't changed since 1930 in most of the country, nothing will happen for a long time.