AZ or NM or some other territories reject statehood to this day--for fiscal reasons

"'[T]he amount we require being small, [New Mexico] will be the lowest-taxed sovereign State in the nation' declared New Mexico statehood promoters to Congress in 1901. The promoters were actually continuing an argument with their fellow New Mexicans, who had voted statehood down by a two-to-one margin just a decade earlier. Miguel Otero, future governor, had opposed statehood too at the time because he notice[d] 'all the politicians on both sides favor statehood, and all the business men and tax payers on both sides are not in favor,' at least in 1890 when the election was held.

"It is not a widely known fact that many residents of American territories oppose statehood on the grounds that the new state government will be too expensive. I, for one, didn't know it until I was conducting research for my history master's thesis in the 1980s. In all six of the southern territories I studied, there was significant opposition to statehood within the territory, usually for fear of its expense." Stephanie D. Moussalli, The Fiscal Case Against Statehood: Accounting for Statehood in New Mexico and Arizona https://books.google.com/books?id=xI9_kVfuiKsC&pg=PA1

AHC: To this day, NM or AZ or some other OTL state isn't a state for fear by the residents that statehood will be too expensive...
 
This is pre-1900 but I hadn't realized how much opposition there was to statehood in Florida Territory: "In the Territory of Florida, eastern residents lived in the middle of one of the most ferocious Indian wars in American history, which devastated the economy. Non-Seminoles bitterly resented being forced by the wealthier sections of Florida into a statehood they could not afford. They were "not disposed to invoke [the credit of the Territory] further for the elevation of political aspirants." Among East Floridians, 73 percent voted against the proposed state constitution in 1839, and statehood nearly failed on the question; officially, the majority was only 113 votes." https://books.google.com/books?id=xI9_kVfuiKsC&pg=PA8
 
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Well that will surely be interesting an affect elections. I wonder if if at some point more residents wouldn't want to vote for President eventually come the mid-1900s. There would also likely be a dynamic where other Americans might begin to look a bit askance at AZ and NM for wanting to avoid statehood for tax purposes.
 
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