Amid reports, speculation and confusion over whether Russia interfered in the presidential election, it looks like Russia is also interfering a little closer to home.

KQED has discovered that the leader of Yes California — an organized, supposedly San Diego-based effort to have California secede from the nation — is an American who lives in Russia and runs the independence campaign from there.

Despite having lived in San Diego’s Golden Hill neighborhood at one point, KQED reports 30-year-old Louis Marinelli lives in a town on the edge of Siberia. They also report that he studied at St. Petersburg State University and is married to a Russian citizen.

He admitted to living in Russia, saying he still considers himself to be a Californian, but that he moved back to Russia to “handle some personal issues.”

He also talked about it recently on CNN.

Does his residency matter to you? Should it?

The idea of seceding from California — which many are referring to as Calexit , a borrowed termed from the U.K.’s British exit from the European Union or Brexit — gained steam after the presidential election.

Californians overwhelmingly voted for Hillary Clinton and many took to social media to call for California to take its values and political beliefs and bail out of the United States.

https://twitter.com/projectcreator/status/796200706050912256?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw

https://twitter.com/herbivorre/status/796270876480049152?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw

Democracy in America is doomed. We're going to rescue a piece of it with #CalExit. https://t.co/pVhNK2qVsK — My Work Here Is Done (@MyWorkHeresDone) December 16, 2016

Whether the tweeters and Facebooker were just joking around or really meant it, the Yes California campaign and its leader are very serious.

However, as we’ve previously explained here at The Conversation, it would be extremely hard to make it happen.

So does the campaign being run from Russia give you pause? Should the efforts continue? Let us know at @sdutideas.

Email: abby.hamblin@sduniontribune.com

Twitter: @abbyhamblin

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