Small Towns Seek to Separate from Larger Cities and Create a New Conservative State

Rural voters in California have had it with the Democratic majority in Sacramento and are pushing for their communities to divorce the blue urban areas that dominate state politics. 

Conservative residents in California’s rural regions are tired of over-regulation, the high cost of living and the myriad of policies coming out of the Democratic-dominated state Legislature, said Paul Preston, who founded New California State in hopes of splintering off from its current home. 

“We recognized that we were in a tyranny,” Preston told Fox News Digital, citing the disparity between Democrats and Republicans in state government. 

Preston, a former school administrator, described California as a “one-party” state that operates similar to a communist regime by passing laws that disregard the rural class. 

California Gov. Gavin Newsom and President-elect Trump (Getty/AP)

Despite his increased support among Californians, Newsom has convened a special session amid efforts to “Trump-proof” the Golden State from potential federal interference, but said he would work with the incoming administration. 

“But when there is overreach, when lives are threatened, when rights and freedoms are targeted, we will take action,” he said. “And that is exactly what this special session is about – setting this state up for success, regardless of who is in the White House.”

While Preston doesn’t anticipate a separation right away, considering the effort would need the blessing of the Legislature, he believes an opening will come.

“This is really an urban versus rural debate,” he said. “We’ve been received very well in Congress (during visits to Washington), even by Democrats. It’s interesting that people who are starting to see what we’re doing are on board.”

Hawaii was the last state admitted to the union in 1959. Efforts to attain statehood by Puerto Rico and Washington, D.C., have fallen short in recent years after not having garnered enough support. 

“I get the discussion,” Gallagher said of the New California effort. “I think we might need to look into it. Maybe there should be two states.”