The Initiative for 6 Californias

In 2016, there was talk and continues to be talk of splitting California into six separate states. The argument for it is that not all of California is the same. There are rural areas and then there are cities in California such as the San Francisco and San Jose that are more populated with resources more readily available. Others have argued for it because they believe there would be fairer and equal representation on the national level if California was divided. This proposal was considered an initiated constitutional amendment, proposed by Timothy Draper. The six divisions would be thus:

1. Central California: Fresno, Merced, San Joaquin, etc
2. Jefferson: Humboldt, Mendocino, etc
3. North California: Marin, Napa, Sacramento, Sonoma, etc
4. Silicon Valley: San Francisco, Santa Cruz, Santa Clara, Monterey, Alameda, San Mateo, Contra Costa, San Benito counties
5. South California: Imperial, Orange, Riverside, Bernardino, San Diego counties
6. West California: Santa Barbara, San Luis Obispo, Ventura, Los Angeles counties

However, the initiative did not receive enough support for November 8, 2016's ballot. The biggest problem with this initiative is how resources would be allocated. As you know, California is going through a severe drought and there would be an issue with the distribution of water. A second argument against it is that new constitutions would have to be drawn up. It would be hard to establish new courts, police departments, fire departments, and other offices. It would cost more to establish 6 states rather than keeping California intact. The largest argument is, California would lose electoral seats.

https://ballotpedia.org/%22Six_Californias%22_Initiative_(2016)