California secessionists hope red states' 'deep hatred' of Golden State will aid their cause

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Is it time for California to secede?

Marcus Ruiz Evans, the new president of the #Calexit campaign Yes California, joins 'The Ingraham Angle' with his perspective.

California’s secessionists say they plan to appeal to red-state legislators’ “deep hatred” of the Golden State in a bid to convince them to back their breakaway effort.

Organizers of Calexit, who want their state to separate from the U.S., say they decided to postpone their ballot referendum plans and instead try to persuade out-of-state lawmakers to support their cause.

“We are going to rely on the deep hatred for California that exists in red America,” Louis Marinelli, a founder of Yes California, the Calexit campaign, told the Washington Times.

"We are going to rely on the deep hatred for California that exists in red America."

— Louis Marinelli, a founder of Yes California, the Calexit campaign

The campaign will seek to sway 25 of the 31 Republican-held legislatures to adopt “consent to secede” resolutions and only then ask California voters whether they want to secede.

The new approach is designed to ensure that voters are more motivated and know that their vote will actually lead to secession from the union.

Marinelli said the "consent to secede" resolutions will let Calexit campaign to “come back to California and tell the people: we have the constitutionally required consent to secede, all we have to do now is vote yes.”

“I think people will be really motivated when it gets to that point, whereas in our previous approach, we could vote yes now but then have to wait for consent of the states,” he continued. “That’s kind of a motivation killer.”

"I think people will be really motivated when it gets to that point, whereas in our previous approach, we could vote yes now but then have to wait for consent of the states. That’s kind of a motivation killer."

— Louis Marinelli, a founder of Yes California, the Calexit campaign

But it remained unclear whether Calexit campaigners will be able to convince lawmakers from the red states -- and whether such an approach is even constitutional.

Every secessionist movement faces questions of legitimacy after the California Supreme Court blocked a separate proposal – called Cal 3, which would have split the state into three but remain in the union -- from the November ballot.

CALIFORNIA SUPREME COURT BLOCKS PROPOSAL TO SPLIT STATE IN 3 FROM NOVEMBER BALLOT

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But the Calexit campaign’s latest approach appears to tap into real concerns of many non-Californians. Many Republicans lawmakers used California as an example of what happens to states when they're controlled by the Democrats.

According to the Times, Republicans in Colorado are attacking their Democratic opponents for allegedly wanting to make Colorado more like California.

“RadiCalifornia. That’s what you get when you bring radical left-wing policies to your state — policies that have already failed in California,” the Republican Governors Association’s ad says.

The state’s aggressive opposition to President Trump and its sanctuary state policies also contribute to perception of California as a distinctly different place.

Still, the “deep hatred” of California by others may not be enough succeed as the majority of Californians aren’t on board with the secession. Poll results tend to vary, but the majority of Americans -- including Californians -- still tend to support the union and oppose efforts to divide the nation.

Fox News’ Gregg Re contributed to this report.