In the run-up to the Civil War, the United States government was busily adding states to the Union. Under the Missouri Compromise, states that allowed slavery had to join the United States along with states that forbid the institutions, maintaining an even balance between the two. This plan did not succeed in preventing civil war in the United States, but it did create a custom of admitting states in pairs.
Most recently, Alaska and Hawaii joined as a pair. Alaska was expected to lean Democratic and Hawaii support Republican. That’s now how it turned out, but the theory endures. Today, it is sometimes suggested that Puerto Rico needs a Republican partner state in order to be admitted to the Union.
Should it be a Republican partner state?
The obvious question here, if we accept that states should continue to be admitted in pairs, is whether Puerto Rico actually needs a Republican partner state. Puerto Rico has elected both Republican and Democratic governors and resident commissioners. At the moment, the Resident Commissioner of Puerto Rico is a Republican and the Governor of Puerto Rico is a Democrat. The Democratic and Republican Parties are not registered political parties in Puerto Rico. Puerto Ricans by and large are socially conservative voters, and there is little evidence that they would actually be a blue state.
Puerto Rico might need a Democratic state to balance the ticket. In that case, Washington D.C. might be an option.
Are there any potential Republican states?
In the past, there were often multiple territories wanting to become states. Arkansas joined with Michigan, but that was just because they outmaneuvered Florida, which had been expected to be Michigan’s partner. So far, only D.C. has been proposed as a partner state for Puerto Rico. Are there any other options?
Jefferson, a proposed state in the Pacific Northwest, could be a possibility. Jefferson would include the rural area of Northern California and Southern Oregon. The few who support its formation tend to be conservative Republicans who feel that their state legislatures do not properly represent their views. The counties that would be included in Jefferson State typically one Republican, so declaring Jefferson a state could be expected to provide two Republican senators to offset the Democratic senators that Republican leaders expect Puerto Rico to elect.
Lincoln, another Northwestern state first proposed in 1907, is another possibility. It was proposed again several times over the years, most recently in 2005. Lincoln would be made up of the Idaho panhandle, where Republicans outnumber Democrats significantly, and Eastern Washington, also a Republican stronghold.
Neither of those states actually exists, but both have small groups of supporters.
Alberta, in Canada, also has a small project going which calls for Alberta to secede from Canada and become a U.S. state. The population is much more conservative than most Canadians, and they would probably become a red state if they joined the Union.
Finally, the remaining U.S. territories (with the probable exception of American Samoa) could band together to get the required population for statehood. Like Puerto Rico, the remaining territories are not reliably either Republican or Democrat, but they might have fewer legal hurdles than the other proposed states.
Getting real
There are no current territories or potential states asking for admission to the United States — except for Puerto Rico. Washington, D.C., is the only jurisdiction that is actively seeking statehood. D.C. would probably be a blue state.
As it happens, there is no law requiring states to be admitted in pairs, or requiring a Republican state to balance a Democratic one. Nor is there conclusive evidence that Puerto Rico would be a blue state. Delegates from Puerto Rico to both the national party conventions spoke up for statehood for the territory.
