Jan. 20 (UPI) — Maine’s Secretary of State Shenna Bellows has appealed a judge’s decision to delay a ruling in the case to remove former President Donald Trump from the states 2024 primary ballot.
Bellow’s issued an appeal Friday, two days after Kennebec County Superior Court Justice Michaela Murphy declined to rule whether or not Trump should be disqualified from running in the primary based on the “insurrectionist clause” of the 14th Amendment.
Murphy sent the case back to the secretary of state Wednesday, arguing they should wait for the U.S. Supreme Court to rule on whether or not Colorado can ban Trump from its primary ballot on the same grounds.
“Like many Americans, I welcome a ruling from the U.S. Supreme Court in the Colorado case that provides guidance as to the important 14th Amendment questions in this case,” Bellows said in statement to local media. “In the interim, Maine law provides the opportunity to seek review from the Maine Supreme Judicial Court – which I requested today.
“This appeal ensures that Maine’s highest court has the opportunity to weigh in now, before ballots are counted, promoting trust in our free, safe and secure elections.”
Bellows issued a ruling in December banning Trump from the state’s primary ballot on the grounds that he incited the riot on the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021. Maine became the second state in the union, after Colorado, to disqualify the former president from running due to “insurrection.”
Trump appealed the decision to the Kennebec County Superior Court, arguing Bellows is a “biased decision maker” and “made multiple errors of law and acted in an arbitrary and capricious manner.”
Bellows’ decision fell under heavy criticism from both Democratic and Republican lawmakers who argued Trump should remain on the ballot “until he is actually found guilty of the crime of insurrection.”
KENNEBUNK, Maine (WGME) — A car caught on fire on the Maine turnpike Saturday.
It happened in Kennebunk in the southbound lanes of the turnpike.
A car caught on fire on the Maine turnpike Saturday. (Courtesy of Kennebunk Fire Rescue)
You can see a large cloud of black smoke coming from the scene.
Nobody was hurt.
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Firefighters were able to extinguish the flames.
After Maine’s first Democratic gubernatorial debate, I commented that the candidates seemed to be vying with each other to be agreeable. Would it last? Back then, I thought I’d be happy with any of them as Maine’s next governor.
Not so now, as I observe the cronyism of Shenna Bellows, Troy Jackson and Hannah Pingree, whose plan to rank each other when they vote provides a blueprint for gaming the ranked-choice voting system in the primary. The political insiders are forming an alliance against the outsiders, Nirav Shah and Angus King III.
Shah’s campaign responded that it would stay focused on winning voters’ support, a more principled approach, in my estimation.
I prefer a governor who listens and learns from his constituents over one experienced at alliances and deal-making. I want integrity and leadership, not manipulation and exclusion.
I no longer believe that Bellows, Jackson or Pingree would make a good governor.
Moriah Freeman
Brunswick
BANGOR, Maine (WABI) – A Wall Street Journal article reports that Amy Gertner, the wife of Maine Senate candidate Graham Platner, told campaign aides she found sexually explicit text messages on Platner’s phone after he launched his bid for office last year.
According to the report, Gertner disclosed the messages while aides were conducting opposition research, and she asked a campaign aide to review what Platner had sent—reportedly to several women—to determine whether it could become a liability for his campaign.
The Wall Street Journal reports Gertner believed she was confiding in someone she considered a friend.
The article also states the couple discussed the messages in marriage counseling.
In a statement from Gertner provided by the Platner campaign, she wrote that they have gone through counseling and that their marriage today “is stronger than ever before.”
Amy Gertner provided a statement through the Platner campaign.
“I confided deeply personal details about my marriage to someone I considered a friend. In the months since, I have had to watch as she spread malicious gossip to anyone who would take her call. I trusted this person with the most private chapter of our lives – the early days of our marriage before any campaign was on our mind – and I am deeply hurt by her betrayal and the invasion of our privacy.
“It is no secret that Graham and I have struggled on our fertility journey. We did the hard work that marriage requires. We went to counseling. We were honest with each other in ways that weren’t easy. And we came through it, not in spite of how much we’ve been through, but because of how much we love each other and the life we’ve built. Our marriage today is stronger than ever before.
“I know who Graham is. I know the man I married and the husband he has been to me on the best and the worst days of my life. That hasn’t changed, and it won’t.” – Amy Gertner
Platner and Gertner married in 2024, according to the report.
Copyright 2026 WABI. All rights reserved.
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