Virginia, which already holds the dubious distinction of being the only U.S. state from which two other states were born (West Virginia and Kentucky), could lose dominion over several counties near the West Virginia border. The reason? Big government!
Virginia, the seat of the Confederacy, is a state that knows a little bit about loss. Early in American history, the Virginia county of Kentucky, the portion of the State lying west of the Appalachians, petitioned to secede and in 1792 was made the 15th state. Just over 90 years later, in 1863, West Virginia would be admitted as its own state, splitting from Virginia over the Civil War, ending a process that started right after Lincoln’s election.
Today, as a new civil war rages in America — the kind evinced more by divisions within family rooms than by geography — a number of counties in Virginia are considering leaving the state to escape the state’s “progressive” policies.
West Virginia appears ready to welcome them.
The movement has taken on the trendy name of “Vexit.” The public face of the initiative is the President of Liberty University, Jerry Falwell, Jr.
Virginia has shape-shifted in its political landscape over the decades, moving from a red state starting in the 60s, to a purple state, to now what might be called a red-and-blue state.
The northeast portion of the state, containing the 10th and 11th Congressional Districts, are heavily populated with Beltway insiders. They have numbers, money, and control of the political machinery. But they do not control most of the geography.
Outside of the northeast progressive stronghold, Virginia is very red. A 2016 map shows an overwhelming number of counties, especially those to the west, where Donald Trump carried the vote –in some instances with 70-80 percent. Dickens himself could not have penned a “tale of two states” better than did Virginia voters. It is the residents of these counties who are looking to their north and east and wondering what the future holds for them as Virginia residents. West Virginia appears to be potentially far more welcoming.
Since sweeping to victory in 2019 and taking control of both Houses of State government for the first time since 1994, the Democrats have been launching an all-out assault on traditional American values. Governor Northam, of blackface and post-birth abortion fame, is on a march to make Virginia the new California.
Speaking directly to disenfranchised Virginians, West Virginia Governor, Jim Justice, said recently, “If you’re not happy where you’re at, come on down. If you’re not truly happy where you are, we stand with open arms to take you from Virginia or anywhere you may be. We stand strongly behind the Second Amendment, and we stand strongly for the unborn.”
This is what red-Virginians want to hear, and it is what they know they are unlikely to hear any time in the near future.
This idea of county-level secession is not new. It has been proposed over time from Cook County, Illinois to Tucson, Arizona; From Cape Cod to California. Up until now, the dam has yet to break. However, if this movement is successful and at least some counties vote to move to West Virginia, America could soon see citizens flowing freely from one jurisdiction to another — without even having to hire a moving van.
Governor Northam has been dismissive of the movement, choosing to joke about it being an “election year” in West Virginia and demeaning Jerry Falwell, Jr. with a “what do you expect” kind of attitude.
He would do well to take it seriously. The political landscape is shifting constantly. Why can’t geographic borders shift along with it?
For anyone who thinks this is interesting but it can’t ever happen because it simply must be unconstitutional, think again. Refer back to the origins of West Virginia and Kentucky. There is precedent and there is also nothing in the Constitution that precludes this kind of move.
Lost in all this is the focus on directionality. There is not a movement currently underway in West Virginia for people to move east. People are not lining up and saying, “I have too much liberty here. I want more restrictions on my rights.”
Google till you’re “blue” in the face:you won’t find that movement. There are never movements or migrations to limit our freedoms. Vexit, like Brexit, represents individuals coming together to take back their own sovereignty.
Right now there is friction between two oppositional elements in our country. The irresistible force of freedom is rubbing up against the immovable object of collectivism. Virginia has been at the center of divisions in the past.
This time, Virginia could well be the spark that starts the fire for a whole reshaping of America, one that is both literal and ideological.
Charlie Kirk is the author of the upcoming book, “The MAGA Doctrine: The Only Ideas That Will Win the Future” (Harper Collins, March 3) and host of “The Charlie Kirk Show.”
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