California county votes to study option to form new US state

The county spans large rural areas between Los Angeles and the state border with Nevada but also includes urban areas east of LA

A county with 2.2 million residents has voted to study the option to secede from California and form a new US state.

Californians as a whole largely continued the Golden State trend of voting for progressive leaders and issues in November’s midterms, but voters in San Bernadino County, the fifth most populous in the state and the largest in the country by area, are so unsatisfied with the leadership at the state level that they voted to consider leaving the state, according to The Associated Press.

County voters approved an advisory ballot proposal by the smallest of margins, which tells local leaders to study the option of leaving the state of California.

The county spans large rural areas between Los Angeles and the state border with Nevada but also includes urban areas east of LA.

A new US state hasn’t been created since Hawaii became one in 1959.

Read more: Independent