About Splitting California
For over 170 years, Californians have floated more than 200 plans to break the state up. None has ever succeeded — but the idea never dies. Here's who's proposing it now, how the news is covering it, and what the map actually looks like. Want to try it yourself? Build your own split →
Who wants to split California?
The latest push comes from inside the Legislature, but it joins a long line of rural-vs-urban breakaway movements. Each card links to a pre-built CaliSplit you can open and remix.
The “Two-State Solution” (AJR 23)
Carve 36 inland counties — the Central Valley, Sierra, far north and Inland Empire (~10.5 million people) — into a new state, leaving the coastal and urban strip as a smaller California. Introduced as a non-binding resolution after the Prop 50 redistricting fight, which Gallagher argues “silences rural voices.”
Status: Parked in the Assembly Rules Committee since introduction — never granted a hearing or floor vote, and with no realistic path through the Democratic-supermajority Legislature. It lives on as a messaging vehicle: Shasta (Nov 2025) and then Yuba and Sutter counties (May 2026) voted to endorse it.
State of Jefferson
Separate the far-northern rural counties (historically with parts of southern Oregon) into a new state called Jefferson, citing chronic under-representation of rural areas in Sacramento.
Status: About a dozen northern counties have passed declarations of intent. Ongoing as advocacy but legally stalled — no Legislature or Congress consent.
New California State
Form a 51st state from California’s rural and inland regions, leaving the major urban areas in the old state. Held a “constitutional convention” in Visalia in 2025 and ran an informal vote on its proposed constitution.
Status: Active but fringe; no official legislative traction. Same Article IV barrier.
Cal 3 / Proposition 9 (historical)
A ballot initiative to divide California into three states (Northern California, California, and Southern California). The furthest any modern split has gotten — it actually qualified for the ballot.
Status: Defunct. The California Supreme Court pulled it from the 2018 ballot and removed it permanently that September.
Splitting California in the news
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Counties back plan to split California
Yuba and Sutter county supervisors vote to support Gallagher's plan to divide the state, citing rural counties feeling unheard on water and fire resources.
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Yuba and Sutter leaders vote to support Gallagher's plan for splitting California
Four of five Yuba supervisors and all five Sutter supervisors endorse AJR 23 — even as local Democrats call its odds of passing “absolutely zero.”
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Conservative group plans to split California, holds ‘New California’ convention in Redding
The New California State movement convenes in Redding to pitch carving a new state out of most of California while excluding LA, the Bay Area, and Sacramento.
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With Prop 50 in place, Shasta votes to support forming a new state
Shasta County supervisors vote 3–2 to endorse the split; Gallagher cites Prop 50's passage as the “primary catalyst.”
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Here's why a top California Republican proposes splitting the state into two
The original explainer on Gallagher's “two-state solution” and why it is constitutionally a long shot.
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Republicans float new plan to divvy up California: the “Two-State Solution”
Where it started — AJR 23's plan to peel the inland counties into a new state in response to redistricting.
California is more purple than you think
Headlines call California a “blue state,” and statewide it is — Harris beat Trump 60.4%–39.6% on the two-party vote in 2024. But zoom into the counties and the picture is far more mixed. Most of the state's land area leans red; the blue is concentrated in dense coastal metros. The closest counties come out genuinely purple.
Hover a county for its two-party split. Each county shaded by margin; the most competitive counties appear purple. Source: California Secretary of State, 2024 Statement of Vote.
Curious how your own split would stack up? Build a California split →
CaliSplit is a hypothetical, educational tool, not affiliated with any campaign, movement, or government. Editorial summaries above are drawn from the linked sources; please consult them for full detail.