A group calling itself the New California movement is pushing for a dramatic reimagining of America's most populous state: splitting it into two.

Led by Paul Preston, a talk radio host on One Radio Network and president of the movement, supporters say California has been taken over by a "totalitarian one-party system" and argue that the only solution is to carve out a 51st state.

"We're not secessionists—we're not trying to secede from the Union," Preston told Newsweek . "We're making a new state, growing the Union of states, so that we will become the 51st state of the Union."

Newsweek has contacted Governor Gavin Newsom 's office for comment via email.

A Breakaway Vision

Preston said the group formally declared independence in 2018, citing frustration with what he described a

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