Ever since Michigan became a state in 1837, there’s been a quiet tug-of-war between the rugged north and the political south. The Upper Peninsula didn’t even want to be part of Michigan in the first place — it was handed to Lansing as part of the Toledo War settlement. By the 1850s, Yoopers were openly campaigning for their own state. They wanted to call it “Superior.”
That movement never fully died.
It resurfaced in the 1890s, again in the 1920s, and most famously in the 1960s–70s when Rep. Dominic Jacobetti, attorney Ted Albert, and several counties began formally petitioning Lansing for secession. Jacobetti even introduced House Bill 6115 in 1978 to separate the U.P. entirely.
It failed for one obvious reason:
Political gravity always pulls toward Lansing.
Whether you look at the 1850 census or the 2020 one, Michigan has remained a radically unbalanced state. Today, roughly 9 out of every 10 Michigan voters live within 90 miles of Lansing — the southern arc stretching from Detroit to Grand Rapids.
That means:
• Detroit and its suburbs decide everything.
• Northern Michigan’s political influence is statistically irrelevant.
• The Upper Peninsula has less population than many Detroit ZIP codes.
The result?
The same dynamic Yoopers complained about in 1855 still exists today: a government dominated by people who neither live nor think like the north.
And if we’re being honest, this isn’t just a U.P. problem.
**Everything north of the 45th parallel lives in a different world:
different economy, different culture, different priorities, different problems.**
Lansing governs as if the entire state is one giant suburb.
But the land north of the 45th is:
• timber, not traffic
• lakes, not freeways
• local community, not mega-metro politics
• hunting, fishing, agriculture, forestry, mining, and tourism
• small towns whose needs are drowned out by Detroit’s urban voting bloc
If representation means anything, this is the textbook case where statehood boundaries no longer reflect reality.
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The Argument in One Sentence
If 90% of the population — and therefore 90% of the political power — lives within 90 miles of Lansing, then anything north of the 45th parallel isn’t represented. It’s ruled.
And ruled regions eventually want out.
Just like Alaska split from its administrative territory.
Just like West Virginia split from Virginia.
Just like Maine split from Massachusetts.
The map changes when the people demand it.
Maybe the old Yooper dream wasn’t crazy after all.
Maybe the future “State of Superior” isn’t just the U.P. —
maybe it’s all of northern Michigan, everything above the line the French explorers marked centuries ago:
45° North — the natural border between two different Michigans
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Since I live only 2 miles north of the 45th parallel I would not likely be part of any State of Superior. Instead, I would still be stuck in the “tip of the Mitten’s “ little finger. However, I can tell you that not all of the political issues we face are driven by Lansing. A lot of them are created by the migration of liberals from downstate, Michigan, Chicago, New York City, and other liberal bastions into this part of the state. They also bring their socialist big government ideas with them when they come, and just like in the big cities, they implement policies that are ruinous. Socialism is a cancer, and liberal Democrats are its vectors.