Proposed flag:

UCSON, Ariz. — On the patio of a downtown bar here last Wednesday night, a handful of people gathered over pitchers of beer to plot the creation of America’s 51st state.

With copies of the Arizona constitution before them, they debated how to turn Pima County — a liberal southern swatch of Arizona that borders Mexico and includes Tucson — into “Baja Arizona.”

“What’s the objective?” one member asked the group, Start Our State.

“Becoming our own state and making our own decisions,” said organizer Paul Eckerstrom.

Baja Arizona (the working title) will almost certainly remain a dream, but it suggests the growing chasm between the state’s Republican leaders and its frustrated liberal minority.

For decades, there has been friction between Pima County and its more conservative northern neighbor, Maricopa County, which includes Phoenix. Residents of Pima County (pop. 1 million) have often joked about forming their own state. The chasm yawned last year when Gov. Jan Brewer approved an immigration law that prompted a legal battle between the state and the federal government and made the state the target of boycotts.