Illinois Counties Consider Secession to Create a 51st US State

There are calls in the US to create a 51st state

Residents of Illinois are campaigning for the separation of rural areas and small towns from Chicago and its surrounding areas to create a new, 51st US state. In November, 11 of Illinois’s 102 counties will hold votes on whether to begin discussions on such a separation.

Add Logos Press as a preferred source on Google

According to NBC Chicago, a similar initiative has previously been supported in 33 counties. If the November votes yield the same result, the number of counties in favour of discussing secession will reach 44.

The campaigners believe that the Illinois authorities do not take sufficient account of the interests of residents outside Cook County, where Chicago is located. Lorette Newlin, director of the organisation Illinois Separation, stated that people are dissatisfied with the decisions made by the state authorities.

“We are being ignored. We are not taken into account when many laws are passed that harm us,” she told NBC Chicago.

Voters will have to decide whether their county authorities should liaise with other areas outside Cook County to discuss the possibility of forming a new state. These votes are advisory in nature and do not, in themselves, alter Illinois’s boundaries.

Any separation of territories would require the consent of the Illinois General Assembly and the US Congress. State Governor J.B. Pritzker opposes the initiative. His administration had previously described it as a “political stunt” and stated that the separation would not take place.

The idea of changing state boundaries is also being discussed in other parts of the country. In June 2026, The New York Times reported that legislators in neighbouring Indiana had passed a law inviting counties in Illinois to join their state. In eastern Oregon, supporters of the Greater Idaho movement are campaigning for part of the territory to be transferred to neighbouring Idaho.

There have already been instances in US history where new states were formed through the secession of territories. In 1820, Maine seceded from Massachusetts, and in 1863, during the Civil War, West Virginia was formed from part of Virginia.

This story was translated with the assistance of artificial intelligence.The translation was also reviewed by the Logos Press editorial team.

How did this story make you feel?