Three states make sense, and avoids the issue of secession (hesitantly, I have to agree that secession is out of the question). It would add one liberal state and one conservative state (pending ongoing leftification of the north west).
I only have two concerns;
1 - would the split have any provision for exchanging "hostage" citizens between Jefferson and the Californias? (I'm not real happy here as it is). And,
2- Would Jefferson have adequate sea port facilities?
The author must be from San Francisco, he seems blind to huge liberal influence of the Silicone Valley - part of his benighted northern CA segment.
So Cal has it's proximity to mexico while today's central California is overrun with technical/academic/urban liberal elitists, plus the home grown druggies 'Frisco is famous for.
A final benefit to the three state option is that the US would only have to sell off a third of the territory when mexico made their move; I'd hold out for enough reparations to finance a well armed border militia for ten or twenty years.
1 - would the split have any provision for exchanging “hostage” citizens between Jefferson and the Californias? (I’m not real happy here as it is). And,
2- Would Jefferson have adequate sea port facilities?
1. That one would have to be worked out; hard to say.
2. Yes, the new state, which reaches to the coast, would have adequate coastline. Adequate seaports would have to be constructed.