Maine’s Secretary of State Shenna Bellows (Panama) disqualifies Trump

In the news —

Shenna Bellows (Panama 1999-01)

On Thursday, December 28, Maine Secretary of State RPCV Shenna Bellows  disqualified former President Trump from the 2024 ballot. Bellows cited Section 3 of the 14th Amendment’s insurrection clause, which prevents a person who has engaged in any rebellious activity against the country from holding office.

“The U.S. Constitution does not tolerate an assault on the foundations of our government, and Section 336 requires me to act in response,” Secretary of State Shenna Bellows wrote.

Bellows’ decision to block Trump from the 2024 ballot comes a week after the Colorado Supreme Court barred the former president from the state’s Republican primary ballot, citing the 14th Amendment, seemingly referencing Trump’s role in the January 6, 2021, attack on Congress.

Bellows’ move against Trump has sparked disbelief online. Social media users accused the Maine Secretary of State of hindering the democratic process and began circulating her picture with Joe Biden, which has gone viral online.

What we know about Shenna Bellows

Shenna Bellows graduated magna cum laude from Middlebury College in 1997, receiving the highest honors for a thesis in economic and environmental sustainability.

After graduating college, Bellows served in the Peace Corps in (Panama 1999-01) as a small-business development volunteer before serving as executive director of the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) of Maine from 2005 to 2013.

She served as a Democratic state senator from 2016 to 2020 before she was elected the first female Secretary of State in 2020.

She was also the executive director for the Holocaust and Human Rights Center of Maine for two years and owned Bellows & Company, a non-profit consulting business that provided management, development, and communications consulting services to nonprofit clients to bring about social change.