Dividing California into two or more states has been discussed several times in recent years—State of Jefferson, Six Californias, Cal 3, and now a two-state proposal from Assembly Minority Leader James Gallagher (R-3).
While there have been attempts at statewide ballot measures to divide California, the legislature referred just one to the ballot: the Pico Act of 1859. The legislation was named for state Assemblymember Andrés Pico (D) of Los Angeles County. According to historian William Henry Ellison, Pico viewed California as “too large and diversified for one state” and that “uniform legislation was unjust and ruinous to the south.” The California State Legislature agreed to place the question on the ballot, which Gov. John B. Weller (D) signed on April 18, 1859.
Voters in six southern counties of California—Los Angeles, San Bernardino, San Diego, San Luis Obispo, and Tulare—decided on the ballot measure to grant consent for the southern counties to establish a separate government with the proposed name Territory of Colorado. The legislation stipulated that a two-thirds vote was needed to be considered approved. On Sept. 7, 1859, the proposal received 74.7% of the vote.
U.S. Sen. Milton Latham (D), writing to Congress on Jan. 12, 1860, said, “They [southern Californians] are an agricultural people, thinly scattered over a large extent of country. They complain that the taxes upon their land and cattle are ruinous—entirely disproportioned to the taxes collected in the mining regions; that the policy of the State, hitherto, having been to exempt mining claims from taxation, and the mining population being migratory in its character, and hence contributing but little to the State revenue in proportion to their population, they are unjustly burdened.”
Congress did not take action on the Pico Act due to the Civil War, according to the California State Library. Patt Morrison, a columnist for the Los Angeles Times, said, “More than a few civic leaders and military men were pro-Dixie, like L.A.’s Civil War-era mayor Damien Marchesseault, who wanted southern California to follow the Confederacy into secession.”
Assembly Minority Leader Gallagher introduced his two-state proposal as Assembly Joint Resolution 23 (AJR 23) on Aug. 26, 2026. Six Assembly Republicans co-sponsored the resolution with him, along with one state senator. In AJR 23, Gallagher mentioned the Pico Act: “Efforts to divide California are deeply rooted in its history, dating back more than a century. Notably, in 1859, voters overwhelmingly approved splitting the state into two.”
Gallagher said Proposition 50, on the ballot for Nov. 4, 2025, was “the straw that broke the camel’s back.” Proposition 50 would amend the California Constitution to allow the state to use a new, legislature-drawn congressional district map for 2026 through 2030. Gallagher stated, “There has been a lot of these problems for a while, but now what you’re telling me is that you’re going to strip my area, you know, of all congressional representation.” Nick Miller, a spokesperson Assembly Speaker Robert Rivas (D), responded, “Assembly Republicans say they oppose gerrymandering but just drew this joke of a map. … a true James Gallamander.”
Creating a new state from an existing state requires more than a bill, resolution, or ballot measure. Article IV, Section 3 of the U.S. Constitution requires the consent of the state legislature, as seen with the Pico Act, and Congress. The president must also sign the legislation to create a new state. West Virginia is the most recent state formed from an existing state, separating from Virginia in 1863 during the Civil War.
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