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 Timothy Draper, a founder of a Silicon Valley-based venture
capital firm that has invested in Twitter, Skype and Tesla, among
other companies, has been agitating for months for a ballot
initiative to chop the most populous U.S. state into smaller
entities.
"It’s important because it will help us create a more responsive,
more innovative and more local government, and that ultimately will
end up being better for all of Californians," said Roger Salazar, a
spokesman for the campaign. "The idea ... is to create six states
with responsive local governments - states that are more
representative and accountable to their constituents."
 Salazar said Monday that the campaign had gathered more than the
roughly 808,000 signatures needed to place the measure on the
November, 2016 ballot. Draper and other supporters plan to file the
signatures with California Secretary of State Debra Bowen on
Tuesday.
But the plan has raised bipartisan hackles across the state, and
opponents say it stands little chance of gaining voter approval. If
it does win the support of voters, it must still be passed by
Congress, which opponents say is also unlikely.
"This is a colossal and divisive waste of time, energy, and money
that will hurt the California brand,” said Steven Maviglio, a
Democratic political strategist who has formed the group
OneCalifornia with GOP strategist Joe Rodota to fight Draper’s plan.
"It has zero chance of passage. But what it does is scare investment
away... at a time when the Governor is leading us to an economic
comeback.”
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Draper's plan would split the world’s eighth-largest economy along
geographic lines.
One state, to be called Silicon Valley, would include the tech hub
along with the San Francisco Bay Area. Jefferson, named after the
third U.S. president, would encompass the northernmost region. The
state capital of Sacramento would be in North California, while
South California would be made up of San Diego and the eastern
suburbs of Los Angeles.
L.A. itself would be part of a state called West California.
Proponents say the division would help create a more
business-friendly environment, solve the state’s water issues, and
ease traffic congestion.
(Editing by Sharon Bernstein and Eric Walsh)
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