One of the representatives of the Republican Party proposed establishing a 51st state in the United States. The Los Angeles Times writes about this.

This initiative was put forward by Californian Republican Jeff Stone. According to his plans, a new state would be formed by dividing California. In particular, 13 counties should separate from the "golden state", namely Fresno, Imperial, Inyo, Kern, Kings, Madera, Mariposa, Mono, Orange, Riverside, San Bernardino, San Diego and Tulare.

Stone has already come up with a name for his new administrative-territorial unit - Southern California. If the state appears, it will become the fifth most populous in the United States - 13 million. In turn, California will lose first place to Texas due to division.

Commenting on his initiative, Stone emphasizes that California in its current guise has become an “uncontrollable financial disaster.” It is curious that the districts that Stone proposed secession adhere to conservative ideas and mostly support the Republican Party, while in general California, at the expense of liberal Los Angeles and San Francisco, is considered a Democratic stronghold. Thus, experts note, the Republican proposal pursues exclusively political goals, namely, to create another Republican state, while simultaneously shaking the position of the Democrats.

In the Democratic administration of California, the idea of a Republican politician was expectedly ridiculed. Gil Duran, a spokesman for Democratic Gov. Jerry Brown, called Stone's secession claims a ludicrous political stunt and a gross waste of time. “If you really want to live in a Republican state with strict right-wing laws, then there is a place for you called Arizona,” said the representative of the head of administration.

One way or another, on Tuesday, July 12, the Riverside County Board of Supervisors, headed by Jeff Stone, will hold a meeting, the agenda of which will be the issue of secession from California. If the initiative gets the green light, Riverside will convene other county leaders for a summit to discuss the possibility of creating a new state.

Stone's proposal has little chance of success. Various political groups have been trying to divide California (as well as other states ) since the mid-19th century and have failed each time. In total, according to calculations by The Los Angeles Times, there were more than 220 such attempts in California alone. The last time they started talking about secession was in 2009. Then Republican Bill Maze proposed dividing conservative districts into the state of Western or Coastal California, arguing that liberal Democrats from big cities had crushed district conservatives.

American Republicans are thinking about the 51st state