Who is Shenna Bellows? All about Maine Secretary of State who disqualified Trump from primary ballot

Maine's Secretary of State, Shenna Bellows, a Democrat, ruled that Former President Donald Trump is ineligible for the state's primary ballot due to his efforts to overturn the 2020 presidential election results, as outlined in a 34-page ruling released on Thursday evening.

The Trump campaign quickly replied to the decision, describing Bellows as a strong leftist and a highly partisan Democrat supporting Biden, accusing them of meddling in the presidential election for Crooked Joe Biden.

Who is Shenna Bellows?

Bellows, a member of the Democratic Party, became Maine's first female secretary of state. She was elected by the legislature in 2020 and officially took office in January of the subsequent year.


It's noteworthy that Maine is among the three states where the secretary of state is chosen by the legislature, while the majority of states have public elections for this role, and some have appointments made by the governor.

Bellows served as the executive director of the American Civil Liberties Union of Maine from 2005 to 2013, following her consulting work for not-for-profit groups.

Subsequently, despite an unsuccessful U.S. Senate bid in 2014, she successfully secured a position in the Maine Senate, where she held office from 2016 to 2020.

Concurrently, she took on leadership roles, including heading the Holocaust and Human Rights Center of Maine from 2018 to 2020. Additionally, she served as a presidential elector in the electoral college during the 2020 election.

Bellows emerged from modest origins, spending her early years in rural Maine without access to running water or electricity until the fifth grade. The daughter of a carpenter and a nurse, who occasionally worked night shifts at a nearby Christmas wreath factory, she now resides in Manchester, Maine, with her husband, Brandon.

In 2014, Bellows ran for the U.S. Senate but lost to Republican Susan Collins, the moderate senator holding her seat since 1997.

Collins stated on Thursday night that Bellows's ruling should be reversed, emphasizing that Maine voters, not a Secretary of State chosen by the Legislature, should determine the election outcome.

Bellows has previously voiced her opinions on January 6th. In 2021 social media posts, Bellows called the U.S. Capitol riot as an insurrection and expressed support for Trump's impeachment.

FAQs:

Q1: When did Shenna Bellows start her political career?
A1: 2014.

Q2: When was Shenna Bellows born?
A2: March 23, 1975.