It would be self-defeating for these counties to leave Oregon, but Salem / Portland should do more to extend an olive branch to the east. These counties are spa

It would be self-defeating for these counties to leave Oregon, but Salem / Portland should do more to extend an olive branch to the east. These counties are sparsely populated, very agricultural, and generally very poor (a few rich land barrons / ranchers, and then everybody else struggling to make ends meet). The core problem is that the I-5 corridor really knows nothing about these counties, has no interest in understanding the issues in these counties, and frankly have engaged in utter hubris - we're educated, urban elites and what's best for the Willamette valley is best for the whole state . At the same time, those eastern ranchers et al are convinced those hippy dippy liberals from PDX are the anti-christ. So you've got two cultural groups completely speaking past each other. It's an even uglier divide than the same basic issues we have in Washington State. While I can't excuse my rural brethren for their often simple and crass political views, I really do wish Salem / Portland politicians would throw them a bone. Land use management, water rights, etc ARE different on the east side of the state. I've seen Salem force these counties to do things that make no sense and are crippling to the economies of these states. So sure, these counties are poor and backwards - and often it seems like Salem wants it to stay that way. While I supported many policies from Kate Brown (and Jay Inslee), they both seem to like to fan the flames over here in the east rather than work to bridge the divide - and that's really frustrating. Will remain to be seem how Tina Kotek approaches this as gov, but my guess is it will be more of the same.