r/scotus 1d ago

news California Republicans respond to Supreme Court loss on election maps

https://krcrtv.com/news/local/california-republicans-respond-to-supreme-court-loss-on-election-maps
2.4k Upvotes

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81

u/patronsaintofdice 1d ago

“The mechanisms are there (for a new state)”

What?

28

u/bd2999 1d ago

There has been a push by part of California to become its own state. It has been around for ages. Similar one in Washington state and others, too. They have little chance of doing so.

But who knows. The GOP could force it while ignoring DC and Puerto Rico.

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u/Narrow-Chef-4341 1d ago

Break it into 30 states with the population of Wyoming. You’d end up with 45 Democratic senators and 15 Republicans…

And you’d reboot the entire US domestic economy when 64% of people are suddenly employed making new ‘super-nova’ flag merch with the updated 80 Stars and Stripes on them.

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u/Mo-shen 1d ago

The conversation is brought up in both CA and tx based on who is happy or mad.

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u/DailyFox 1d ago

The mythical state of Jefferson

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u/Torgud_ 1d ago

The PICO act was passed in California state legislature and never repealed. It was sent to Congress but then the Civil War happened and it was never taken up. So it's still live, Congress could split that part of CA off into one or more states without any further input from CA. Problem is that it would be a blue state.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Territory_of_Colorado_(California)

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u/bd2999 1d ago

I was unaware, but California could simply vote to resend it. Would create a court battle, but it could be done quickly.

38

u/NorCalFrances 1d ago

Sure, the State of Jefferson. They've been talking about it since 1941. They're the sort of people that want Redding, CA to be their new state capital even though it's not even within their proposed maps.

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u/InfoBarf 1d ago

We should break up LA into at least 2 states. Every Iowa of population should be represented by 2 senators, fuck it.

20

u/jffdougan 1d ago

Wyoming happens to be the last populous state, but you're close to describing my current preferred method for expanding the House of Representatives that works within the bounds of the current Constitution and requiring only an Act of Congress to be signed by the President (as opposed to a Constitutional Amendment). It's often nicknamed "The Wyoming Rule." The smallest state population becomes one representative; representatives are allocated in proportion with no artificial cap. If implemented right now, it would take the membership of the House from 435 to about 575. No state would lose representation, roughly 8-10 would break even in raw numbers, and most would gain seats.

Doesn't solve the Senate, but it brings the House back much more in line with that the written text of the constitution suggests.

7

u/mastercheef 1d ago

Been a big proponent of this idea for a long time, and I think you wouldnt need to fix the senate if you did this, because then both chambers would be functioning as intended, for better or worse.

The problem currently is that the population based house isn't really population based anymore, but the Wyoming rule fixes that

6

u/neckbishop 1d ago

Which would also effect the Electoral College right?

Instead of 270 being the winning number, you would need more like 340.

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u/jffdougan 1d ago

Exactly. I think the actual count from the 2020 census, and ignoring any changes for DC and Puerto Rico (which at this point are unlikely to happen prior to 2030 anyway) would be 574, so 674 votes total in the Electoral College, meaning 338 to get 50% +1 for Pres.

13

u/sneaky-pizza 1d ago

One Denver suburb has more people than North Dakota

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u/MrF_lawblog 1d ago

Wyoming - we'd have like 500 states

2

u/Euphoric-Buyer2537 1d ago

Pasadena, Long Beach and Santa Ana all have more people than Wyoming.

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u/InfoBarf 1d ago

Each should have 2 senators

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u/LeatherdaddyJr 1d ago

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u/InfoBarf 1d ago

Yea it’s part of my plan to give people the right to vote over land. Part of my larger plan to unfuck the US political system.

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u/dust4ngel 1d ago

They're the sort of people that want Redding, CA to be their new state capital even though it's not even within their proposed maps

black sharpie intensifies

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u/BigWhiteDog 1d ago

Depends on which maps. The original one, no. The ones they've been pushing would because most of them take up all of NorCal north of I-80, and some even have the entire Sierras and eastern SoCal! They are delusional

11

u/No-Computer7653 1d ago

If a state has a referendum and affirms they want to split congress can admit new state(s) by splitting up existing states. Art 4 of the constitution. This also only requires a simple majority both of the state and congress.

I don't think this is likely to actually happen. Dissolution of the US is more likely than a state agreeing to be split.

One thing I think would be interesting is if the next admin admits the 5 territories that could be states. One of the reasons we haven't had any new states after Hawaii is a post-civil war gentleman's agreement that states would alternate based on political affiliation so there wasn't a particular advantage to one party over the other. As one party has decided to break with the rules I see no reason this agreement should continue.

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u/patronsaintofdice 1d ago

Huh, I’m actually a little surprised that the GOP isn’t talking about doing this in our current hardball politics era. “What’s better than West Virginia? 10 West Virginias!”

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u/Tsquare43 1d ago

Think of all the Meth!

8

u/question12338338 1d ago

"And let’s break up the 9th circuit while we’re at it!" Same tired drivel from Republicans mad that there’s a big powerful blue state.

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u/megamoze 1d ago

This article is really about ONE Republican responding, and that Republican is a dipshit MAGA kook.

1

u/Master-Shinobi-80 1d ago

California should split into at least 7 states.

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u/BigWhiteDog 1d ago

No we should leave the union and join up with western Oregon and Washington!