Maine Secretary Of State Facing Impeachment For Blocking Trump From Ballot
Maine state Rep. John Andrews (R) has moved to impeach Maine Secretary of State Shenna Bellows (D) over her decision to disqualify former president and current GOP presidential frontrunner Donald Trump from the state’s primary ballot.
The Maine secretary of state ruled last week that Trump was ineligible for office, citing the 14th Amendment and claiming that he had engaged in an “insurrection,” despite the fact that Trump has not been convicted of such a crime and evidence shows that he advocated for the January 6 Capitol protesters to demonstrate “peacefully and patriotically” — which contradicts Bellows’ claims.
Trump was not allowed the chance to defend himself from these accusations in this process and instead was removed from the ballot solely based on Bellows’ opinion about the Capitol protests.
Andrews has slammed Bellows for the ruling, arguing that it was an example of “raw partisanship” and asserting that Bellows did not have the authority to unilaterally remove Trump from the state’s ballot.
In a letter to the Maine Revisor’s Office requesting a joint order to impeach Bellows, Andrews explained his reasoning for the impeachment.
“I wish to file a Joint Order, or whichever is the proper parliamentary mechanism under Mason’s Rules, to impeach Secretary of State Shenna Bellows. I wish to impeach Secretary Bellows on the grounds that she is barring an American citizen and 45th President of the United States, who is convicted of no crime or impeachment, their right to appear on a Maine Republican Primary ballot,” he wrote.
“Donald J. Trump has met all qualifications for the March 2024 Republican Presidential Primary. He should be allowed on the ballot. This is raw partisanship and has no place in the offices of our state’s Constitutional Officers,” Andrews added.
Andrews also appeared on Fox News to discuss the issue, where he argued that the new standard set by Bellows’ decision could also allow for President Joe Biden to be removed from the ballot — as she set the example that an individual does not have to be convicted of a crime, only suspected, before being removed.
Just before she issued her decision, Bellows rejected demands from Trump’s legal team to recuse herself from making a ruling on the issue due to her clear bias. Andrews argued that Bellows’ decision was politically motivated, claiming that she was trying to raise her profile ahead of the Maine governor’s race in 2026.
“This is hyper-partisanship on full display. A Secretary of State APPOINTED by legislative Democrats bans President Trump from the 2024 ballot so that she can jockey for position in the 2026 Democrat Primary for Governor. Banana Republic isn’t just a store at the mall,” he wrote.
Meanwhile, Maine Republicans are now considering switching to a caucus system to bypass the decision.
“This political activism by Shenna Bellows, it’s not going to stand,” Maine GOP Chairman Joel Stetkis told local news outlet WGAN. “At the party, since yesterday, we’ve been working on an appeal to the Maine Superior Court and we’re also reserving the right to return to a caucus system where Shenna Bellows will have absolutely no say in who Mainers choose for the Republican nominee for president.”
