Maine
Shenna Bellows announces campaign for Maine governor
Maine Secretary of State Shenna Bellows at the Maine State House in June 2024. Joe Phelan/Kennebec Journal
AUGUSTA — Secretary of State Shenna Bellows announced Wednesday that she will seek the Democratic nomination to run for governor in 2026.
Bellows, who served two terms in the Maine Senate, is among the first to formally enter what is expected to become a crowded primary field for both parties. Each party’s primary, scheduled for June 9, 2026, will likely be decided by ranked-choice voting.
Gov. Janet Mills is unable to run for reelection because of term limits.
Former Senate President Troy Jackson, a 56-year-old Allagash Democrat who worked as a professional logger and served 20 years in the Legislature, announced earlier this month that he is forming a committee to explore a possible run.
So far, only two candidates have filed paperwork with the Maine Commission on Governmental Ethics and Election Practices: Democrat Kenneth Pinet of South Portland and Republican Robert Wessels of Norway.
Bellows made national news and became a foil for local Republicans last year when she ruled that Donald Trump’s name could not appear on the Maine’s presidential ballot because of his role in the Jan. 6, 2021 riots at the U.S. Capitol Building. That decision, which drew a harsh response from Republicans, was later reversed, after a U.S. Supreme Court ruling in a similar case in Colorado.
Bellows, who has fought for same-sex marriage and same-day voter registration, ran unsuccessfully for U.S. Senate in 2014, losing the statewide race to incumbent Susan Collins, who earned 67% of the vote that year.
Bellows, 50, said her humble beginnings and professional career, including her prior leadership of the ACLU of Maine, service in the Maine Senate and her current role as secretary of state, position her to protect Maine families and push back against what she sees as the harmful policies coming out of Washington, D.C.
“We’re in this era of oligarchy, where the billionaires in Washington, D.C., are stripping the government for parts and people here in our state are truly struggling,” Bellows said in an interview Tuesday referring to Trump empowering billionaire Elon Musk and his Department of Governmental Efficiency to slash federal funding, program and workers.
Bellows grew up in the small town of Hancock and now lives in Manchester, which are both in the more conservative 2nd District. She noted she lived in a tent at the age of 4, after her parents bought a plot of land in Hancock and her father, who was a carpenter, built a log cabin from trees they harvested onsite.
“Seniors, veterans, workers and our children are being targeted by Washington, D.C., and no one down there is going to save us – not Congress, not the courts, not Donald Trump or Elon Musk,” she said. “We the people here in Maine are going to have to step up, protect ourselves and take care of our own.
“To do that, we need a governor from Maine and for Maine, who truly understands what families are going through and has a it deep in their bones to protect people and make government work for them. And that’s who I am.”
Bellows, whose office oversees election in Maine, said she will continue to serve as secretary of state while campaigning.
The Maine Republican Party called on Bellows to step down as secretary of state while campaigning for governor, pointing to her efforts to exclude Trump from the 2024 presidential ballot in Maine, which the said “created a national debacle and violated the US Constitution.”
“The people of Maine, all candidates for office and anyone else concerned need to see an immediate plan to ensure the woman who blatantly attacked our ‘democracy’ in 2024 is not overseeing her own election in 2026,” Chairman Jim Deyerman said in a written statement.
It’s not unusual for a sitting secretary of state to run for office.
Most recently, Republican Charlie Summers maintained his post while running for the U.S. Senate in 2012, though he also faced calls to step down. And Democrat Bill Diamond ran for the 1st District seat in the U.S. House of Representatives while serving as secretary of state in 1994.
Candidates must collect between 5,000 and 6,000 signatures to qualify for the ballot. Nomination petitions will be available in January and are due March 16, 2026.
Other possible Democratic candidates include U.S. Rep. Jared Golden of Lewiston who was narrowly reelected to his District 2 seat last fall. Golden beat a challenger endorsed by House Speaker Michael Johnson and Donald Trump, who carried the district. But Golden has been raising money for a 2026 reelection campaign.
Hannah Pingree, the director the Governor’s office of Policy and Innovation under Mills, is also rumored to be mulling a run. Pingree is the daughter for U.S. Rep. Chellie Pingree and previously served as the Speaker of the House.
Democrats may face electoral headwinds in the 2026 race.
Since the 1950s, Mainers have not elected a candidate from the same political party as a departing governor — a trend that began after Maine had five consecutive Republican governors from 1937 through 1955.
The decades of ping-ponging between parties in the Blaine House began when Democrat Ed Muskie was elected in 1954, ending Republicans’ nearly two-decade hold on the governorship.
Possible Republican candidates include former U.S. Rep. Bruce Poliquin, Senate Minority Leader Trey Stewart, Rep. Laurel Libby and Jonathan Bush, a cousin of George W. Bush. State Sen. Rick Bennett and former Senate Majority Leader Garrett Mason, now a lobbyist, have also been discussed.
One name being discussed as a possible independent candidate is Travis Mills, a retired U.S. Army staff sergeant, author and motivational speaker.
Maine could face up to $50 million in penalties next year due to errors in its payments for federal food benefits under the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program.
Newly released data from the U.S. Department of Agriculture find that Maine’s error rate last year was nearly 11%, the bulk of which were overpayments. That’s in line with the U.S. average. But starting in October of next year, states with error rates above 6% must cover a portion of the SNAP benefits.
Anna Korsen, executive director of Full Plates, Full Potential, said the overpayments aren’t fraud — they’re human error. She said this new cost-shifting policy enacted last year under the Trump administration further complicates the SNAP application process.
“Instead, we could make this program more accessible and more efficient,” Korsen said. “And that would reduce the number of errors and also ensure that Mainers who are eligible for SNAP have access to it.”
She’s urging Congress to delay or reverse the policy under the farm bill that’s currently under consideration.
Maine’s Department of Health and Human Services said it’s taking steps to reduce the error rate, including modernizing its systems and hiring an additional 40 eligibility specialists.
This story appears through a media partnership with Maine Public.
PORTLAND (WGME) — The third annual Celebration of America 300 is set for Thursday night at Oxford Plains Speedway.
This race was a favorite of NASCAR star Kyle Busch, who tragically passed away back in May. He was just 41.
Now, a Maine-born driver who worked on Busch’s team is ready to take the 8 car into victory lane.
For the past five years, Windham native Derek Kneeland was Busch’s eye in the sky, working as a spotter for the cup star. Kneeland says his relationship with Busch was like a brotherhood.
“I was fortunate enough where I got to have a personal relationship with him,” Kneeland said. “He came up, and he ran several races with me in late models and stuff at Oxford and Lee Speedway, and we got to do a lot of cool things together.”
Kneeland says dealing with the sudden loss has been both painful and difficult.
“It’s still hard,” Kneeland said. “I’m having a hard time with it. The weekdays are the hardest. At the track is where I’m most comfortable.”
Kneeland will be at the track and behind the wheel Thursday night, competing in the Celebration of America 300, driving the number 8 car.
“You know, a few days after everything went down, his dad called me, and his dad is a man of very few words, and I said, ‘You know, I’m thinking about running the 8 or 51 as long as I have your guys’ blessing, I would like to do that.’ And he said, ‘Short track world knows him as 51, but the world knows him as 8,’” Kneeland said.
Kneeland says it will be an emotional race, but he’s confident he’ll have a special co-pilot leading the way.
“Hoping he’s going to be on my shoulder and give me the guiding way and but to win it for Kyle, I think that would put the stamp on it,” Kneeland said.
FRIENDSHIP, Maine — A federal judge has ordered U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement not to relocate a Friendship man who ICE agents arrested Saturday.
Dhavalkumar Kalidas Patel was seized by four ICE agents at Wallace’s Market, which Patel and his wife operate on Harbor Road in Friendship.
His wife said the agents did not say why he was being taken away in handcuffs.
Attorney Audrey Richardson of Greater Boston Legal Services filed a motion for habeas corpus, meaning he is to be brought to a court in person.
U.S. District Court Judge Indira Talwani of Massachusetts issued an emergency order hours after Patel was seized that prohibits him from being moved elsewhere.
“To provide a fair opportunity for the judge who will be randomly assigned to this case to review the merits of the petition and to rule on any contested issues of jurisdiction, unless otherwise ordered by the assigned judge, respondents will not remove the petitioner from the jurisdiction of the United States or transfer petitioner to a judicial district outside that of Massachusetts for a period of at least 72 hours from the time this Order is docketed,” Talwani wrote.
Patel is being held at the Plymouth County Correctional Facility in Plymouth, Massachusetts.
The petition filed by the attorney representing Patel argues that he is being held unlawfully.
No further hearing dates have been scheduled, but the federal government has until July 6 to file a response.
Richardson issued a statement on the arrest.
“This is another example of ICE illegally and illegitimately taking someone who is working hard to support their family,” she said, including a child born in the United States. “The family is a critical part of the fabric of a small community.”
The Patels have operated the store since 2024. The attorney said ICE agents initially did not even identify themselves. They did not say where he was being taken but he was allowed to make a call when they stopped in Scarborough.
Rob Sample, a customer of the store, said he could not understand why such an action was taken.
“We appreciate them,” he said of the Patel family, adding that they work hard to provide a community service by operating the store.
Knox County Sheriff Patrick Polky said ICE notified his department after its action. He noted the agency is not required to notify the department.
Patel is a native of India.
This story appears through a media partnership with Midcoast Villager.
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