The Merriam-Webster Dictionary’s definition of “secession” mentions the Independent California Institute in one of their example sentences:
The recent survey was conducted while fires were still active between Jan. 6 and Jan. 14 by the YouGov firm for another secession outfit, the Independent California Institute, based in north San Diego County.
For the third time, supporters of what’s known as “CalExit” are attempting to get a measure on the ballot that asks California voters a once unthinkable question: Should the state secede from the United States and become its own nation?
Still, while the idea sounds extreme, 61% of Californians say the state would actually be “better off” if it seceded peacefully, according to the January 2025 Independent California Poll from YouGov. At the same time, 62% of respondents said they didn’t think a peaceful and legal break-up would be possible.
Casey Coss: As President Donald J. Trump aims to grab Greenland, make Canada the 51st state of the U.S., regain control of the Panama Canal, and allow Puerto Rico its independence (with Bad Bunny’s support), quite a few Californians are ‘dreaming’ of grabbing the state out of the Union.
So much grabbing, so little time. Where is Billy Bush’s ‘Access Hollywood’ clip when Californians need to be reminded of it?
The state’s independence sentiment is evident in a recent poll by the San Diego-based and ironically named Independent California Institute.
Joe Mathews: How do you get yourself thrown out of a ballgame? The late Hall of Fame manager Casey Stengel, who was ejected from 40 major league games, believed in persistence and obnoxiousness: “You just gotta argue with the umpire until he gets tired of listening to you.”
How do you get your state thrown out of the country? If Californians want independence from the United States, they should follow the strategy of Stengel, who made his home in Glendale.
Thomas Elias: For every action, says one principle of both physics and politics, there is a reaction. So when President Donald Trump threatened to put conditions on disaster aid in the wake of California’s unprecedented January firestorms, there was a reaction.
Alan Riquelmy: A poll released this month and commissioned by the Independent California Institute — which stated that its first principle is for California to become a “fully functioning sovereign and autonomous nation” — offers some support for secessionists.
According to the poll, 61% of respondents said the state would be better off if it peacefully seceded, and 63% supported using “hardball” tactics to gain autonomy.
Joe Mathews: The flames that leveled Pacific Palisades and Malibu are believed to have started in the Santa Monica Mountains National Recreation Area, managed by the National Park Service. (That’s you!).
The blaze that turned Altadena to ash burned through the Angeles National Forest, managed by the U.S. Forest Service, which is part of the United States (you again!) Department of Agriculture.
The Independent California Institute released a new poll purporting that more than 60% of Californians agree that they “would be better off California if peacefully seceded from the U.S. at some point in the next 10 years.”
Carlsbad, CA: 61% of Californians said they would be better off California if peacefully seceded from the U.S. at some point in the next ten years, in a poll conducted in the weeks before Inauguration Day. This is the highest favorability towards secession ever recorded in a California poll.
Legendary California reporter Dan Walters covers our poll for CalMatters:
The transcontinental sniping raises an old question: Could California sever ties with the United States and once again become an independent country? The San Diego County-based Independent California Institute thinks so.
