Visitors look at Morning Glory Pool, one of the most famous geothermal springs in Yellowstone National Park, Wyoming, May 14, 2016.
For more than 30 years, Wyoming has been the least populous state in the United States. Now, residents of Weld County, Colorado, are trying to change that. Colorado is “at war” with small business, agriculture, oil and gas, and Weld County is eager to break away from the state of Colorado and join Wyoming.
Last year, Weld County resident Christopher Todd Richards registered a political committee, “Weld County, Wyoming. He hopes to place a measure on the November ballot that, if passed, would direct county commissioners to work with the state of Wyoming to explore annexation of Weld County.
Colorado is currently a deep blue state, largely run by Democrats. Wyoming, on the other hand, has been a deep red state for half a century and is run by the Republican Party. In recent years, there has been a clear trend of the U.S. population moving from left-leaning blue states to red states.
“We haven’t really campaigned,” Richards said at a meeting at a local church last November, which was simply recorded and posted on a website created to promote the proposed measure. Later, Richards also created a Facebook page noting that the measure was intended to get out from under Colorado state government and garnered more than 5,000 likes.
“This has never been done before, so we’re not here to tell you this can be done,” local pastor Geoffery Broughton said at the meeting, “we’re telling you it’s a hard thing to do, but we think it’s worth trying “.
Why is Wyoming a better fit for Weld County? Broughton said at the conference that it’s because Colorado is at war with Weld County’s three major economic drivers: small business, agriculture, and oil and gas.
He pointed out that Colorado’s regulations designed to kill energy jobs and the ranching industry run by radical animal rights activists, two of Weld County’s main economic drivers, are also at war with small businesses, and that people who hold traditional values are stigmatized as “homophobic racists.
An online petition, which has accumulated more than 8,400 signatures, cites concerns about Second Amendment rights. The petition states that Colorado has driven weapons manufacturers out of business, that rural schools, hospitals and all rural communities are being ignored and that Colorado only cares about cities.
The “Weld County, Wyoming” campaign does not seem to be an easy one. Richards stressed at the meeting that the process would be long and daunting. In addition to congressional approval, any reapportionment of counties would require a vote by both state legislatures.
Weld County is Home to more than 324,000 residents. If successfully added to Wyoming, it would increase Wyoming’s population by more than 50 percent and Vermont would likely become the least populous state in the nation.
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