A third of Americans wouldn’t miss California if it seceded: Poll - Note for a discussion, "E Pluribus Unum? What Keeps the United States United."

By Valerie Richardson - The Washington Times - Wednesday, March 1, 2017 [Original article contains links.]

Image from article, with caption: Marcus Ruiz Evans (center) of The Yes California Independence Campaign, talks to passersby about California succeeding from the United States and becoming its own nation in Sacramento on Nov. 9, 2016. A group calling for California to secede from the United States submitted a proposed petition Monday, Nov. 21, 2016, seeking a ballot measure that would strip the state constitution of language that says California is an inseparable part of the nation. The Yes California Independence Campaign hopes to put a question on the November 2018 ballot authorizing a vote on independence in spring 2019.

Survey finds 31% believe secession would be good or neutral for country, while 60% want state to stay


About a third of Americans wouldn’t miss California if the state decided to split off from the union.

A Rasmussen Reports poll released Wednesday found that 18 percent of adults surveyed believed that a California exit — dubbed CalExit, after the British Brexit movement — would be good for the nation, while 13 percent said it would have no impact.

Most of those polled — 60 percent — said it would be “bad for America if California became a separate country.”

The results come with the Yes California Independence Campaign gathering signatures to place the secession question on the 2018 ballot. The measure must collect 585,407 valid signatures from registered voters by late July in order to qualify.

The movement received a boost after President Trump’s election from Californians, who voted overwhelmingly for Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton. She bested Mr. Trump in the Golden State by 61 to 31 percent.

Not surprisingly, Republicans were the most enthusiastic about seeing liberal California break off on its own: The poll found 25 percent said it would be good for America if California left, while 16 percent said it would have no impact.

On the other hand, just 15 percent of Democrats and unaffiliated adults said a California departure would be a positive development for the nation. Ten percent of Democrats and 14 percent of unaffiliateds said it would have no impact.

Support for states to secede has inched up in recent years, from a low of 14 percent in 2010 to 21 percent in 2016, according to Rasmussen Reports.