Overview

• CalExit has submitted a proposed ballot initiative to begin a separation process, though qualifying it would require 546,651 valid signatures and significant funding.
• Co-founder Marcus Ruiz Evans says the group now has a larger network, staff and resources, outlining a two-step plan of a supportive statewide vote followed by a negotiated release with Congress.
• A June YouGov poll for the Independent California Institute reported 44% support for a peaceful, legal split and 56% saying California would be better off alone, based on a 500-person sample.
• Commentators promote ‘soft secession’ or ‘uncooperative federalism,’ urging steps like public pension disinvestment from targeted firms, incentives to relocate workers and factories, and blue-state policy compacts such as the West Coast Health Alliance.
• Legal precedent holds that states cannot unilaterally secede and prior breakup efforts, including Tim Draper’s 2018 proposal, were blocked in court, and some dramatic descriptions of federal actions in Los Angeles reflect opinion rather than verified reporting.