Sacramento, CA- February 12, 2025 4:13 PM| A group of supporters of the New California movement, which calls for splitting rural parts of the state from its large urban areas – Los Angeles, the San Francisco Bay Area and Sacramento – gathered at the state Capitol in Sacramento for a rally on Feb. 11, 2025.
“History is demanding a change in this nation. We can make this change now,”
By JOSÉ LUIS VILLEGAS On a day in which the temperature reached 37 degrees a group of supporters of the “New California State” movement rallied at the Capitol on Tuesday afternoon, reiterating their call to create a 51st state out of the rural parts of the Golden State. Under the far-fetched proposal, the urban areas of San Francisco Bay Area, Los Angeles and Sacramento would remain in “old California.”
Paul Preston New California Governor pro tempore, Tina Hussong, Colusa County, Liz Ritchie, Contra Costa County, Mylinda Mason, Stanislaus County, Michael Kehoe, Tehama County
The division results in roughly equal populations, but the geography is complicated by the fact that the urban areas are not adjacent.
“History is demanding a change in this nation. We can make this change now,” said group founder Paul Preston, a conservative talk radio host who has spent about a decade on the project. He created the proposal after becoming disillusioned with the State of Jefferson movement, which would form a 51st state out of northern California counties.
In a different direction, the California Secretary of State’s office announced last month that proponents would begin gathering signatures for a new initiative to study California’s viability as an independent country.
The writer of this article neglected to mention that the proposal of New California is tried and true in accordance with the Constitution of the United States as confirmed by President Abraham Lincoln in 1860 when the State of Virginia voted to succeed from the United States, and West Virginia petitioned the union to accept them as a state that wanted to remain with the United States.
This is exactly what is happening today 64 years later!