Rolling east on Colorado 86, housing tracts give way to cattle and horse ranches outside Castle Rock. A few miles farther, crossing into Elbert County, the landscape steadily becomes more rural.
In Elizabeth, Elbert County’s largest town, there isn’t much talk about — if any talk at all.
Larisa Coonce, 25, who works at a liquor store in town, said she hadn’t heard about the initiative. Coonce, though, said there is a disconnect between Elizabeth residents and urbanites in Denver. She said Elbert County residents take pride in being self-sufficient.
“If we can’t make it, we don’t need it,” said Coonce, who also runs a baking business on the side called Reesa’s Pieces . The issue people are most vocal about, she said, is gun control.
, is 7miles east. It’s a quintessential, small American town. At Patty Ann’s Cafe smiling waitresses greet customers and everybody gets a one-of-a-kind coffee mug. Conversations about children, grandchildren and good food float across the cafe.
An August in Kiowa began with a prayer — “my heart is heavy with the many, many things that are wrong in our nation,” said a local pastor — and a hearty pledge of allegiance to the American flag.
Commissioner Robert Rowland said that the 51st state initiative could be on Elbert County’s November ballot. But commissioners haven’t made any decisions about that or any other ballot initiatives. The bigger issue is Elbert County’s lack of cash.
“At some point we will have to increase revenues in this county,” Rowland said.
The oil and gas industry is poised to enter the region, according to residents, but .
Rick Blotter , a retired teacher who owns 60 acres in the county, said giving drillers unregulated access would have a negative environmental and economic impact. The money that comes in, he said, would be concentrated in the hands of a few landowners and wouldn’t benefit the entire county.
“What does that do to the cost of living in that community — it goes up,” he said.
Past Kiowa, the highway unravels across the rest of the county — a picturesque landscape of rolling plains dotted with livestock. The two-lane highway is pockmarked and weather-worn in places.
Neighboring Lincoln County , too, is absent overt support for the 51st state initiative. , the county’s most populous town, people had only heard about it through news outlets.
Brittin Keenan ,37, is a librarian at . She’s lived in the region for nine years and thinks Lincoln County, a large ranching region, is very conservative. But that doesn’t mean people want to form another state.
“I haven’t heard of it (the initiative) here,” Keenan said. “The only reason I heard is I saw it on the news.”
Keenan said gun rights are an issue for many people in the county. She doesn’t vote along party lines herself, but she implied that many people do and it’s partially because of that issue.
Lincoln County administrator Roxie Devers
said there are no plans for the county to throw its lot in with the 51st state initiative.
“The commissioners have only had a handful of citizens approach them,” Devers said. “They’ll wait to see if it (the initiative) gets on the state ballot and people can vote on it that way.”
By the numbers
Lincoln County
2012 population 5,453
2010 population 5,467
Percent change -0.3 percent
Median household income $43,375
Persons below poverty level, percent 1007-11 11.1 percent
Private non-farm employment 2011 1,229
Non-farm employment percentage change from 2010 0.1 percent
Land area, in square miles 2,577.63
People per square mile 2.1
Elbert County
2012 population 23,383
2010 population 23,086
Percent change 1.3
Median household income $79,367
Persons below poverty level, percent 1007-11 5.8 percent
Private non-farm employment 2011 1,933
Non-farm employment percentage change from 2010 -3.8 percent
Land area, in square miles 1,850.85
People per square mile 12.5
