Some unhappy Texans want state to leave Union

AUSTIN (KXAN) - If you can't beat em, leave 'em.

That seems to be the message from more than 30,000 Texans who apparently are so bummed that President Obama won re-election last week that they want the state to secede from the Union. They formally submitted a largely symbolic petition to the White House allow the state to "peacefully" sever U.S. ties.

A handful of other states, most of which went for Republican Mitt Romney in the presidential election, sent similar sentiments to Washington, D.C.

Spoiler alert: The law does not allow states to withdraw from the nation.

The Texas petition was appended to "We the People" section of the White House website on Friday, just three days after Obama secured a second term with the rather comfortable 332-206 margin in the Electoral College. By 4;30 p.m. Monday, the petition had 31,137 signatures.

It takes 25,000 signatures to trigger a presidential response, but none was posted by late Monday afternoon.

Not long after Obama took office in 2009, Texas Gov. Rick Perry said he understood the sentiments of Texans who'd like the state to secede. But he stopped short of endorsing the notion.

When Texas entered the Union, it came in under provision that allowed it to divide itself into five states. But there's nothing that allows it to withdraw from the United States.