Topline
Maine Secretary of State Shenna Bellows ruled Thursday to disqualify former President Donald Trump from the 2024 ballot under the 14th Amendment because he’s an “insurrectionist” for inciting the Jan. 6, 2021, riot—drawing Trump’s ire, as he claims Bellows, a Democrat who’s spoken out against Trump in the past, is biased against him.
Maine Secretary of State Shenna Bellows attends the inauguration of Gov. Janet Mills on Jan. 4 in … [+] Augusta, Maine.
Key Facts
Bellows has served as Maine’s secretary of state since 2021, and as dictated in state law, was elected by the state’s legislature, rather than directly by voters.
Prior to becoming secretary of state, she served as a state lawmaker in Maine, and unsuccessfully ran against Sen. Susan Collins (R-Maine) for U.S. Senate in 2014.
She also previously served as the executive director of Maine’s American Civil Liberties Union chapter, ran a nonprofit consulting business and led the Holocaust and Human Rights Center of Maine.
Bellows has made comments against Trump on social media in the past, including saying she was “disappointed” he wasn’t removed from office after the Jan. 6, 2021, riot at the Capitol building, which she called “an unlawful attempt to overthrow the results of a free and fair election” and a “violent insurrection.”
“History will not treat [Trump] or those who voted against impeachment kindly,” Bellows wrote after the Senate failed to convict Trump, though she said the fact 57 senators voted in favor of his removal from office was “nevertheless an indictment.”
Trump unsuccessfully asked the state to disqualify Bellows from considering his eligibility to run for office, claiming the Democrat “has exhibited a personal bias” against the ex-president.
Crucial Quote
“My decision is based exclusively on the record before me, and it has been in no way influenced by my political affiliation or personal views about the events of January 6, 2021,” Bellows said in her ruling disqualifying Trump from the ballot, responding to his request that she be removed from the case.
Chief Critic
Trump’s campaign has continued to attack Bellows in the wake of her ruling, with spokesperson Steven Cheung claiming in a statement Thursday she’s “a former ACLU attorney, a virulent leftist and a hyper-partisan Biden-supporting Democrat who has decided to interfere in the presidential election on behalf of Crooked Joe Biden.”
What To Watch For
Trump will stay on Maine’s ballot for now, as Bellows paused her ruling until an appeals court rules on the issue, or until a five-day deadline for appealing the case passes without Trump bringing an appeal. Trump has not yet appealed Bellows’ ruling, but his campaign said Thursday it will “quickly” do so. The U.S. Supreme Court is also broadly expected to consider Trump’s candidacy under the 14th Amendment after the Colorado Supreme Court previously ruled to disqualify Trump, with Colorado Republicans appealing that decision to the U.S. Supreme Court on Thursday. The federal high court has not yet said whether it will take up the case.
Key Background
Section three of the 14th Amendment bars people from holding federal or state office if, after they’ve taken an oath of office, they “engaged in insurrection or rebellion against the same, or given aid or comfort to the enemies thereof.” Trump’s critics argue the ex-president engaged in insurrection by inciting his supporters to riot on Jan. 6, inspiring a wave of litigation across the country seeking to disqualify him ahead of the 2024 election. Bellows’ ruling made Maine only the second state to rule against Trump under the 14th Amendment, following the Colorado Supreme Court’s ruling. A number of other state courts have ruled in favor of the former president in recent months, such as in Minnesota and Michigan, and Bellows’ ruling came after a number of her counterparts in other states, including other Democrats, said they didn’t believe they had the power to unilaterally kick Trump off the ballot. “The Office of Secretary of State in Minnesota is not the eligibility police,” Minnesota Secretary of State Steve Simon, a Democrat, told MPR News in September.
Further Reading
Trump Barred From Maine Ballot Under Insurrection Clause (Forbes)
