GOP lawmakers representing Maryland’s three counties bordering West Virginia sent a letter Thursday to the neighboring state’s General Assembly speaker and Senate president, requesting admission into West Virginia.
Garret, Allegany and Washington county representatives asked in the two identically worded letters addressed to the West Virginia lawmakers to “consider adding us as constituent counties to the State of West Virginia.”
INBOX: The officials who represent Maryland’s three westernmost counties in the General Assembly have asked if their counties can join West Virginia. pic.twitter.com/AaKei1u2Ay
— Rachel Baye (@RachelBaye) October 21, 2021
“We believe this arrangement may be mutually beneficial for both states and for our local constituencies. Please advise on next steps,” the officials of the three counties seeking secession wrote.
The state voted for Democratic presidential candidates in every election since 1992. However, Biden earned only 38% of the vote in Washington county, 30% in Allegany county and 21% in Garret county, Fox News reported.
Republican Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan has faced staunch opposition from both state legislatures that have a Democratic majority for a number of initiatives, including refunding police and battling crime in Baltimore.
It is not the first time the idea of secession is being entertained in the western counties of Maryland. In 2013, residents in Garrett, Allegany, Washington, Frederick and Carroll county pushed for the creation of a new state called West Maryland, but the proposal failed to gain momentum to get an approval in the Maryland state legislature according to Fox News. (RELATED: Rush Limbaugh Says United States Is ‘Trending Towards Secession’)
Congress approved changes to state lines only three times: creating Kentucky in 1792 by taking land from Virginia; creating Maine from land out of Massachusetts in 1820 and during the Civil War when West Virginia counties who sided with the Union seceded from Virginia confederate counties.