Secession efforts appear every now and then in California, in this case driven by local vexations with state government, but face an uphill battle thanks to required support from the state legislature as well as the U.S. Congress to succeed.
The latest move involved two counties - Del Norte and Tehama - where supporters want to leave California to form a new state they hope to name after the third U.S. president, Thomas Jefferson, who once imagined that part of western North America might develop into a freestanding republic.
The measures, which would have directed the boards of supervisors in the counties to declare support for leaving the state, passed in Tehama with 56 percent of voters in favor and 44 percent opposed, but failed in Del Norte, with 59 percent opposed and 41 percent in favor, according to election results posted by the state.
A measure in a third county, Siskiyou, to declare itself the Republic of Jefferson, also failed, with 56 percent of voters opposed and 44 percent in favor, the state said.
