The long-shot Greater Idaho movement reconfigured its map after two coastal and southern Oregon counties rejected ballot measures last week that would have required county commissioners to study becoming part of a different state.

While the setback does not spell the end for the Greater Idaho movement, which seeks to move the border of Idaho to include all of Eastern Oregon, it is a sign most of the people who hope to see the movement succeed are in rural counties east of the Cascades.

The likelihood the border would be changed is remote, as it would require the approval of both the Oregon and Idaho legislatures in addition to approval by Congress, but for the movement’s leaders, part of the point is to send a message to Salem and to get more rural Oregonians to the ballot box.

The movement’s new map now excludes Douglas, Coos, Curry, Josephine and Jackson counties, but includes nearly everything east of the Deschutes River. The Bend area would remain in Oregon, but other parts of Deschutes, Jefferson, and Wasco counties would be annexed to Idaho. Most of Klamath County, which in Tuesday’s election became the ninth county to support the movement, would be annexed as well.

Jefferson County narrowly approved the Greater Idaho ballot measure in 2020. It asked county residents if they wanted the Jefferson County Commission to meet twice a year to discuss the initiative.

Kelly Simmelink, a Jefferson County commissioner, said while he is willing to do what he can to honor the people’s vote, he does not have high hopes for the movement’s success.

“I applaud the efforts of people that want to be represented,” Simmelink said. “I get it. Eastern Oregon, anything east of the Cascades, has a long record of being underrepresented.

“We need to make Oregon work for all of us … I want my Oregon to be the best it can be. The state is run in a fashion that it is a one size fits all, and what works in Multnomah County doesn’t work in Jefferson…”

Mike McCarter, president of the Greater Idaho effort, said the movement intends to push forward, and the main goal at this point is to start the conversation in the state Legislature.

“We are working hard trying to find the champions in the state Legislature that want to start the discussion,” McCarter said. “I think that what we are doing does send a message to the Oregon Legislature that they need to work across the state.”

McCarter said the movement’s intention from the beginning was never to force an issue on anybody, but getting it on the ballot was an important step in figuring out where the focus should be moving forward.

“Our move right now, we have ready to turn in the signatures for Morrow County, to get them on the ballot in November,” McCarter said. “And we have signatures lined up to put Wallowa County on next May’s election. And we are trying to work with Wheeler and Gilliam counties to get them a petition going so we can get them on the ballot.”

“So, we are going to continue on. This is not a step back. It’s maybe a change of direction a little more,” he added.