The newest bid to line up a ballot measure pushing California towards independence and a split with the Union has been given the green light to move forward.
California Secretary of State Shirley Weber announced this week that a petition to create the ballot option and officially take the next steps in the process has until late July to garner 500,000 signatures for the yes/no vote to be added to the state ballot.
A proposed ballot initiative has been filed in California for the 2028 election to make the state “an independent country.”
The CA Secretary of State has cleared the measure for signature gathering:https://t.co/WMrlVzuSH0
— Ashley Zavala (@ZavalaA) January 24, 2025
Calexit has grown in popularity in recent years, but has also faced obstacles — partly due to the ‘America First’ revival initiated by President Trump.
One group pushing for California independence that actually goes under the name “Calexit” has specifically pinpointed President Trump’s popularity as one of the biggest threats to their Cali succession dreams, according to a report in Newsweek:
California is by some margin the wealthiest and most populous state in the union. According to the International Monetary Fund’s 2023 World Economic Outlook, California had the fifth largest economy in the world, placing it behind Japan and ahead of India and the United Kingdom.
Calexit, a group that campaigns for Californian independence, described Trump’s presidential election win in November as “an attack on everything California cares about” and argued that it strengthened the state’s case for secession. In 2024, the Texas Republican Party included in its policy platform a call for a referendum on the state becoming “an independent nation.”
To have an independence vote included on California’s 2028 election ballot, campaigners must gather 546,651 signatures—constituting 5 percent of the total votes cast for Governor Gavin Newsom in November 2022—and submit them to county elections officials by July 22, 2025.
ADVERTISEMENTThe question proposed by the campaign is “Should California leave the United States and become a free and independent country?”
According to the campaign, if at least 50 percent of registered Californian voters cast their ballots, and at least 55 percent of participants vote “yes,” it would constitute “a vote of no confidence in the United States of America” and an “expression of the will of the people of California” to become an independent state.
The proposal would create a commission to “report on California’s viability as independent country.” It would also provide $10 million as a one-off payment for the commission and election and an additional $2 million from state coffers to run the commission each year.
If the minimum number of signatures is collected by the deadline, the next step would entail a minimum voter turnout of 50%.
If the minimum voter turnout is reached, then a 55% threshold voting in favor of the following ballot question would move the process forward:
“Should California leave the United States and become a free and independent country?”, according to KCRA 3, an NBC affiliate out of California:
As many have pointed out on social media, the majority of those pushing for California to break with the United States (at least those calling for it from within California…) are progressives.
These are the same progressives who have been very vocal in arguing that Texas succession is ‘illegal’.
BREAKING 🅱️
Liberals are now pushing for California to become an independent country
— American AF 🇺🇸 (@iAnonPatriot) January 25, 2025
This specific push was organized by a political activist based in Fresno; Marcus Evans.
Evans unsuccessfully attempted a California succession push during President Trump’s first term.
The ballot question would also include a measure calling for the removal of the U.S. flag from official buildings, according to a report in the New York Post:
The measure also calls for the U.S. flag to be removed from all state buildings.
The secession plan was introduced by Marcus Evans, a Fresno-based political activist, according to the California Secretary of State. Evans unsuccessfully pushed the state to secede in President Trump’s first term in office.
“We believe that now is the best time to Calexit – NOW we are better situated to make Calexit happen than in 2016,” he told CBS News.
The scheme will cost the state at least $10 million, and $2 million a year to operate the commission, according to CBS.
As stated, the prevailing opinion is that a state would need the U.S. Congress to vote in favor of allowing a state to succeed.
Marcus Evans, the architect of this current push, agrees.
But he also believe that the United States would ultimately agree to let California separate. And I suspect he’s right.
Here’s a throwback video from back in 2018 of Evans explaining his thinking to none other than the current SecDev, Pete Hegseth!
Marcus Ruiz Evans on California’s “Calexit”: “A lot of people think you can’t secede, that is ignorance.” @IngrahamAngle pic.twitter.com/poE3Is1A3e
— Fox News (@FoxNews) April 7, 2018
It is hard to argue, at this point, that America would overwhelmingly cling to California if Californians actually voted to leave the Union.
There would be issues to hash out; national security concerns, and guarantees would need to be made to ensure no foreign encroachment using the independent nation of California as a springboard to threaten the United States.
But, could it happen? Could California really leave the Union?
Once upon a time I would have dismissed the notion as that of fringe groups, and the fairytale of progressive utopia.
After seeing just how far those progressives are willing to go… there is little doubt in my mind that at some point — sooner rather than later — California will end up voting itself out of the Union.
At that point, the only question remaining will be what it takes for the other states to let it happen — and it could be that we PRAY for that separation by the time it actually happens.
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