West Virginia could be getting bigger

West Virginia could soon see its borders shift for the first time in more than a century, as lawmakers weigh a proposal that would formally add new territory to the Mountain State.

State Senator Chris Rose said he is introducing a resolution to adopt several counties in neighboring Maryland and Virginia, including Amherst, Bedford, Botetourt, Floyd, Pulaski, and Rockbridge.

“Exciting update on our Appeal to Heaven movement for freedom in Appalachia! Due to overwhelming interest and support, I’m thrilled to announce we’ve expanded our Senate resolution inviting even more Virginia counties, along with counties from Maryland, to join West Virginia,” he wrote on X.

“Now including Amherst, Bedford, Botetourt, Floyd, Pulaski, and Rockbridge, counties that share our values of freedom, Second Amendment rights, and rural prosperity. Let those country roads take you home. Break free from out of touch policies and unite for a stronger future.”

Altogether, the resolution invites 27 Virginia counties to join the state of West Virginia, as well as three Maryland counties.

The initiative originally targeted only a handful of neighboring counties, but Rose says the scope widened after residents from deeper inside Virginia reached out, urging him to add their communities to the plan.

The proposal mirrors growing movements in other states, including California, Illinois and Oregon, for independent or merged states.

In California, organizers of the New California movement want to split the state, they say has become a “totalitarian one-party system” in two and create a new state. In Illinois, organizers of the New Illinois campaign want to do broadly the same thing.

Meanwhile, in Oregon, organizers behind the Greater Idaho campaign say they want to transfer more than a dozen rural Oregon counties into neighboring Idaho, arguing that their communities have little in common with the state’s liberal, urbanized western half.

Rural–Urban Divide Driving the Campaign

The same rural–urban divide underpins the push in West Virginia, where advocates say cultural and political differences have grown too wide to ignore.

A statement published by Senator Rose said the counties were selected based on their “geographic, economic, cultural, and historical connections with West Virginia, including a strong Appalachian heritage, rural lifestyles, and a focus on individual liberties.”

“This resolution is about empowering communities to choose governance that truly reflects their values and needs,” he added. “West Virginia was born from the spirit of self-determination, and we’re extending that invitation to our neighbors who share our way of life. By uniting, we can foster economic growth, better infrastructure, and a stronger voice for Appalachia.”

In an interview with ABC 13, Rose added that the movement is about residents in those counties, which lean Republican, having their voices heard.

“We want our voices to be heard, we want our vote in elections to matter,” he said.

Unlike Maryland, West Virginia is a solidly Republican state. As of August 2025, Republicans outnumber Democrats in registered voters by a significant margin. There are over 170,000 more registered Republicans than Democrats in the state. And the state has voted Republican in every presidential election since 2000.

Nonetheless, campaign organizers say politicians from Democrat leaning areas in the two states have too much influence.

“For too long, rural communities in Western Virginia and Western Maryland have been ruled by distant politicians in Richmond and Annapolis who don’t share our values,” campaign organizers said on their website.

In the 2024 presidential election, the Richmond metro area in Virginia voted decisively for the Democratic ticket. Richmond city itself gave 82 percent of its vote to the Democratic candidate. And Annapolis, Maryland, is strongly Democratic; in the 2025 mayoral election, Democrat Jared Littmann won with 74 percent of the vote.

For campaign organizers, that is a problem. “They restrict your Second Amendment rights, raise your taxes, indoctrinate your children, and funnel your hard-earned dollars into radical green experiments and government waste. Meanwhile, just across the border, West Virginia stands strong—defending freedom, faith, family, and the Constitution,” they said.

A Nearly Impossible Path Ahead

But the hurdle is steep. For any county to shift into West Virginia, lawmakers in each affected state would have to pass authorizing legislation, and Congress would then need to sign off on the boundary change.

For that reason, some lawmakers doubt that the campaign’s aims are realistic. “I wasn’t aware of it and it’s not going to happen,” Virginia Senator Tim Kaine told ABC13.

But Senator Rose is still optimistic. “If that would happen, West Virginia would be more than happy, willing and able to take the counties in and provide the freedom and representation they so much deserve,” he told ABC13.

“I would definitely take the frustration of your constituents seriously, because they feel like they are not being heard in their states,” he added.