BANGOR DAILY NEWS • April 28, 2025
In 1997, then-Rep. Henry Joy, R-Crystal, won funding for a task force that studied creating two states out of Maine. Joy’s secession plans never materialized, but renewed talks of secession tied to grievances are once again finding a platform. Aroostook has a greater need for public services and therefore benefits from its connection to the rest of Maine, noted James Myall, a policy analyst with the Maine Center for Economic Policy. Forming a new state out of Aroostook and other rural Maine counties is a tall task and one unlikely to succeed anytime soon, since both the Democratic-controlled Legislature and Congress would need to approve a secession.