Why Parts Of Rural America Are Pushing Back On Coronavirus Restrictions
Conservative challenges to statewide stay-at-home orders are mounting in counties that have few coronavirus cases. "This has become a rural versus urban issue," political scientist Kathy Cramer says.
A county judge in Oregon Tuesday refused to vacate his ruling rejecting that state's stay-at-home order, though Gov. Kate Brown's restrictions will remain in place pending a review by Oregon's supreme court.
The case is one of several challenges launched recently by conservatives in mostly rural areas from Illinois to Wisconsin to Oregon. They've upended or threatened to upend statewide public health restrictions in place to curb coronavirus infections. They also appear to be bringing the divide between urban and rural areas into sharper focus.
For instance, Baker County, where Oregon's most recent challenge stemmed
