West Virginia bill would redraw state borders with Virginia, Maryland

West Virginia lawmakers at the state and federal levels are looking to welcome disgruntled Virginians to Mountaineer country after Democrats won elections this week with Virginia Gov.-elect Abigail Spanberger and Attorney General-elect Jay Jones winning big.

Virginia and West Virginia were a unified state until June 1863 – when the final result of the “Wheeling Convention” saw delegates from western counties vote in favor of separating from the East in order to prevent forced secession from the United States as this effort seeped into Richmond.

That split may be healing, as a West Virginia lawmaker announced plans Thursday to invite several West Virginia counties and those in Maryland’s Western Panhandle to join West Virginia.

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Harpers Ferry, West Virginia, center, sits at the confluence of the Shenandoah River in Virginia, left, and the Potomac River in Maryland, right. (Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)

Much of what is now West Virginia abhorred or did not use slavery, and abolitionist John Brown led a raid on the federal armory in Jefferson County, in what became the easternmost point of the Mountain State – hoping to spark a slave revolt.

A century and a half later, West Virginia state Sen. Chris Rose introduced a bill Thursday that would unite his state with several conservative counties along the Virginia border and stretching into Tennessee and North Carolina.

A map of the areas in Rose’s bill published by Beckley’s NBC affiliate showed that a several hundred mile swath of Virginia, from Big Stone Gap, through Jonesville and extending north to Tazewell, Bland and Luray would be officially invited to join West Virginia.

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The map would essentially make the eastern panhandle of West Virginia geographically questionable – and would reunite Charles Town and Martinsburg with their geopolitically similar neighbors in Berryville and Brucetown, Virginia.

Charleston would also add to its group of newcomers from high-tax Garrett, Allegany and Washington counties in Maryland.

Rose, R-Morgantown, said the areas in his bill “share geographic, economic, cultural and historical ties with West Virginia, including a strong Appalachian heritage, rural lifestyles and a focus on individual freedoms.”

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Jim Justice. (AP Photo/Chris Jackson, file)

The move follows West Virginia Gov. Patrick Morrisey’s invitation Wednesday for Virginians to essentially get together with their neighbors.

Sen. Jim Justice, R-W.V. previously partnered with Virginia neighbor and evangelist Jerry Falwell Jr. to promote a similar effort that he said actually reaffirms a standout offering from the 1860s.

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Asked about the new sentiment of inviting in disgruntled neighbors, a Justice Department spokesperson suggested the situation would show a real contrast in responsible governance.

“Senator Justice has long been one to welcome those who are disappointed by the failure of progressive leadership in West Virginia,” Justice spokesperson Will O’Grady told Fox News Digital on Thursday.

“He continues to promote the state and has proven that West Virginia is truly a diamond in the rough when it comes to places to live, work and raise a family.”

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Jay Jones, left, Abigail Spanberger, center (Win McNamee/Getty Images)

Justice and Falwell said in 2020 that Frederick County — across the border from Martinsburg — still had a separate, singular 1862 invitation to join West Virginia, while others remained with a collective RSVP.

Falwell, whose family has lived in Virginia since the 1600s and in the Lynchburg area — home to Liberty University — since the 1900s, reportedly cited Thomas Jefferson’s own admonition in the Declaration of Independence regarding the occasional need to “disband political groups” when “the laws of nature and Nature’s God entitle them.”

Justice, Falwell and other advocates of uniting at least part of “old” Virginia cited the disparity between Richmond’s politics and those in the western part of the state.

Although she never talked about redrawing the borders, Virginia Lt. Gov. Winsome Earle-Sears previously told Fox News Digital that she would have created a “second governor’s office” in southwest Virginia — to bring what she called forgotten residents accountable to their officials.

Earle-Sears said at least four state capitals — including Charleston — are closer to many rural and mountainous areas in the Southwest, and voters have told him they can feel the disconnect.

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Abolitionist John Brown leads a raid on the Confederate arsenal at Harper’s Ferry, Virginia, 1859 (Kean Collection/Getty Images)

The formation of West Virginia is considered the only successful effort to create a new state through secession from another state.

Current initiatives in Oregon, California and elsewhere — as well as efforts to separate Staten Island from New York City to create the Republican-friendly city of Richmond — have largely stalled.