Some residents who feel disenfranchised in Weld County, Colorado, are seeking to get a measure on the November ballot to explore the possibility of the county joining Wyoming.
“We’re going to move a county to a different state. We’re not really moving. We’re just moving a line,” said Todd Richards, who first created a Facebook page in April 2019 to advocate the idea, in a meeting on Nov. 10, 2020.
“The problem is that we’ve come to a point in our culture today where we no longer as a culture agree on what’s good and evil,” said the pastor, who hosted the meeting on Nov. 10 at Destiny Christian Center in Greeley, Colorado.
Richards said the Facebook page suddenly drew attention from over a thousand people when getting closer to the election.
“I knew that whatever happened with this election was going to either put this in the hole and nobody’s going to say anything about it, or it’s going to fire a bunch of people up and they are going to move tomorrow,” Richards said.
“Specifically for those of us who live in Weld County, we live in a state who is no longer a minister to us for good,“ said Richards. ”The state of Colorado is at war with three major economic drivers for Weld County: small businesses, agriculture, and oil and gas.”
Fox News local channel Fox 31 reported that Richards registered the “Weld County Wyoming” political committee in February 2020.
But not all the 324,000 residents in the County would like to leave Colorado.
“I absolutely love living in Colorado. For those that don’t love living here, there are certainly less ridiculous ways of moving to Wyoming,” said Tommy Butler, a City Council member of Greeley, one of the major cities in the county, according to FOX31.
Jennifer Carroll, Mayor of Erie released a statement that said, “If Weld County residents approve the ballot question, the Colorado legislature has to approve it, the Wyoming legislature has to approve it, and it’s possible both Colorado voters and Congress will need to approve it as well.
“As the Mayor of Erie, I respect the process and the cornerstone of voting. Ultimately, the people will choose the outcome. In my role, I can help residents discover the risks and benefits of such a measure. This measure will undoubtedly require a great deal of pre-education for voters.”
A similar attempt failed in 2013 in a number of counties in Colorado, passing only 5 in 11 counties, according to the Colorado Sun.
