Maine Republicans threaten to impeach secretary of state for kicking Trump off the ballot

Maine Republicans are threatening to impeach Secretary of State Shenna Bellows following her decision to bar former President Donald Trump from the state's 2024 ballot, vowing to take the matter to court.

Bellows, a Democrat, said on Thursday that Trump is not qualified to appear on the state's primary ballots under the Constitution's insurrection clause. Section 3 of the 14th Amendment prohibits those who "engaged in insurrection" from holding office.

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Republican state Rep. John Andrews said he would move to file a request for a joint order to impeach Bellows, who issued a historic decision in becoming the first secretary of state to ban a presidential candidate from ballot access under the insurrection clause.

“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,” Andrews said in a statement on Thursday evening. “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.”

Andrews called Bellows’s ruling “partisanship” and emphasized Trump has met the qualifications to be on Maine’s GOP presidential primary ballot, similar to calls from many members of the Republican Party.

"This is hyper-partisanship on full display,” Andrews said. “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.”

Other Maine GOP members quickly expressed their outrage following Bellows’s decision, arguing the ruling would be overturned in court and echoing claims of partisanship from the Democratic secretary of state.

“This is a sham decision that mimics third world dictatorships. It will not stand legal scrutiny. People have a right to choose their leaders devoid of mindless decisions by partisan hacks,” Maine House Republican leader Billy Bob Faulkingham said.

Sen. Susan Collins (R-ME) said, “Maine voters should decide who wins the election,” not Bellows, who was elected to serve as the secretary of state by the Maine legislature in 2020.

“The Secretary of State’s decision would deny thousands of Mainers the opportunity to vote for the candidate of their choice, and it should be overturned,” Collins wrote on X, formerly known as Twitter.

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This month, the Colorado Supreme Court booted Trump from the state ballot, and Colorado Republicans filed an appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court, meaning the former president will appear on the March 5 primary ballot for now.

Bellows's decision in Maine will not go into effect immediately, giving Trump time to appeal, which his team has promised they will file soon.