[christophilus]

Just following up, but I know many, many people who have moved to my state for exactly that reason: what they saw as government run amok in their home state. This trend spiked during COVID, but it continues due to various policy blunders that they are trying to leave behind.

So, yes. People do relocate when the local government becomes oppressive.

My family is in the US because my great grandparents immigrated here to get out from under the thumb of the UK government. In fact, unless you’re a Native American, you probably have a similar story in your family history.