NEWS & MEDIA
MAINE BEACON: Maine People’s Alliance endorses Shenna Bellows in 2026 Democratic Gubernatorial Primary
“She’s been a champion of women, children, people with low incomes, older people, and workers.” - MPA board co-chair Gina Morin, Auburn
MPA’s board of directors voted to back Shenna Bellows based on her long record of advocacy and public service.
MPA’s board of directors voted to back [Shenna] Bellows based on her long record of advocacy and public service. In a statement, MPA board co-chair Gina Morin of Auburn praised Bellows’ leadership and values.
“Shenna Bellows came from incredibly humble beginnings to become a person who gives more of herself than we can describe,” Morin said. “She’s been a champion of women, children, people with low incomes, older people, and workers. She’s stood up to bullies, defended the rights of marginalized people, and shown us what good government looks like.”
Bellows, who was raised in a low-income household in rural Hancock County, has built a career focused on civil liberties, voting rights, and access to healthcare. Before being elected Secretary of State in 2020, she served as executive director of the ACLU of Maine and as a state senator.”
[READ MORE]
MAINE PUBLIC RADIO: Secretary of State Shenna Bellows Announces Campaign for Maine Governor
Bellows says she's running because Mainers are facing threats from the Trump administration, and will have to take action.
"Seniors, veterans and workers are being targeted by Washington D.C. and no one down there is going to save us," she said. "It's time. We the people here in Maine are going to have to step up and protect ourselves and take care of our own."
MARCH 26, 2025 - Maine Secretary of State Shenna Bellows says she's running for governor next year. As Steve Mistler reports, Bellows is the second Democrat to announce their intent to replace Gov. Janet Mills.
Bellows has been involved in state politics for two decades, first as the director of the ACLU of Maine and more recently as Maine's top election official. In between, she challenged Republican Sen. Susan Collins in 2014 and later won a state Senate seat in a swing district just outside of Augusta.
Bellows says she's running because Mainers are facing threats from the Trump administration, and will have to take action.
"Seniors, veterans and workers are being targeted by Washington D.C. and no one down there is going to save us," she said. "It's time. We the people here in Maine are going to have to step up and protect ourselves and take care of our own."
[READ MORE]
MAINE MORNING STAR: Maine Secretary of State Shenna Bellows Officially Announces Bid for Governor
Secretary of State Shenna Bellows announced her run for governor in 2026, becoming the first major Democratic candidate to throw her hat in the ring.
“Because while we’re paying our taxes or helping our parents measure out their medication, our country is being demolished by a greedy, unelected billionaire who thinks his dollars are more powerful than our voices … who thinks the value of his stock portfolio matters more than the values of our community,” said Bellows.
MARCH 26, 2025 - During her address early Wednesday at the official launch event at the Hancock Community Center, Bellows said “we need leaders who will meet the moment.”
“Because while we’re paying our taxes or helping our parents measure out their medication, our country is being demolished by a greedy, unelected billionaire who thinks his dollars are more powerful than our voices…Who thinks the value of his stock portfolio matters more than the values of our community.”
Bellows has served as Maine’s first female secretary of state since 2021. She garnered national attention last year for initially disqualifying President Donald Trump from the 2024 Republican primary. She’s currently serving her third term as Secretary of State, during which she has focused on making voting more accessible.
“With so much at stake, we need a governor from Maine and for Maine — someone who understands what families here are going through, because they’ve lived it,” Bellow said in a statement.
“Growing up in Hancock,” she continued, “my family didn’t have much and we struggled to pay the bills, but we worked for everything we had. It’s that perspective that will allow me to fight for families, workers, small businesses and children every single day as governor.”
Bellows, who now lives in Manchester, has worked in Democratic politics in Maine for more than a decade. Bellows served in the Maine Senate from 2016 to 2020, representing 11 towns in southern Kennebec County. She also served as Senate chair of the Labor and Housing Committee and was on the Judiciary Committee. Before her tenure as a state legislator, she ran as the Democratic nominee against U.S. Sen. Susan Collins for U.S. Senate in 2014.
Before running against Collins, Bellows served as executive director of the American Civil Liberties Union of Maine. Throughout her career, she’s consulted for and worked with several advocacy organizations including Sierra Club’s Maine Chapter, Consumers for Affordable Healthcare and the Maine Women’s Lobby. She also worked on campaigns to pass marriage equality in Maine, and co-chaired a successful 2011 statewide ballot campaign to restore same-day voter registration.
As Secretary of State, her office has focused on modernizing technology, implementing online voter registration and automatic voter registration at the Bureau of Motor Vehicles, among other initiatives. In 2022, Maine had the highest voter participation in the nation, and the November 2024 election yet again saw record turnout.
[READ MORE]
THE ELLSWORTH AMERICAN: Shenna Bellows Announces She is Running for Governor
Citing her work in the Senate, Bellows said she helped pass legislation to provide property tax relief, ensure equal pay for women, provide food options for children and seniors and to protect workers’ comp, among other things.
As governor, Bellows said she would “work hard to modernize our services to better serve the people of Maine” and to send a message that “all are welcome here.”
March 26, 2025 - Secretary of State Shenna Bellows, who grew up in Hancock County, has thrown her hat in to the ring to vie to be the next governor of Maine.
Bellows, a Democrat, made her campaign announcement at a breakfast event in her hometown of Hancock Wednesday morning.
“Today, I’m proud to announce I’m running for governor,” said Bellows, according to video from the event. “I love Maine. I know that we have the power to lead this country, quality education, and economic development and climate resilience.”
A graduate of Ellsworth High School who grew up in Hancock, Bellows went on to lead the ACLU of Maine as its executive director early in her career. She later ran for and was elected to a state senate seat in Kennebec County in 2016 and was re-elected in 2018 and 2020, before being elected by the Legislature as Maine’s secretary of state in December of 2020.
“Maine is the best place on earth,” said Bellows on Wednesday morning. “Maine values and our way of life are worth fighting for.”
Citing her work in the Senate, Bellows said she helped pass legislation to provide property tax relief, ensure equal pay for women, provide food options for children and seniors and to protect workers’ comp, among other things.
As governor, Bellows said she would “work hard to modernize our services to better serve the people of Maine” and to send a message that “all are welcome here.”
During her time as secretary of state, Bellows said improvements that have been made include online appointments at the Bureau of Motor Vehicles (BMV), online voter registration and automatic voter registration at the BMV. Bellows noted that Maine led the nation in voter participation in 2022.
[READ MORE]
SPECTRUM NEWS: Bellows Announces Run for Maine Governor
Describing herself as a “Downeast dirt road Democrat,” Bellows told supporters at the Viles Arboretum in Augusta that she will fight for the middle class.
“Our farmers, our fishermen, our nurses, our carpenters, our teachers, they’re the drivers of our economy, the pillars of our community and the people we need government looking out for and fighting for and that is what I will do for you as your next governor,” she said.
Secretary of State Shenna Bellows announced a run for governor today, making her the second prominent Democrat to express interest in or fully enter the 2026 race.
Describing herself as a “Downeast dirt road Democrat,” Bellows told supporters at the Viles Arboretum in Augusta that she will fight for the middle class.
“Our farmers, our fishermen, our nurses, our carpenters, our teachers, they’re the drivers of our economy, the pillars of our community and the people we need government looking out for and fighting for and that is what I will do for you for you as your next governor,” she said.
Bellows, 50, is a graduate of Ellsworth High School and Middlebury College who has served as executive director of the ACLU in Maine, a state senator and in 2021, she was sworn in as Maine’s first female Secretary of State.
Bellows made headlines last year when she decided to exclude President Donald Trump from GOP primary ballots because of the riots at the U.S. Capitol, a decision she reversed following a Supreme Court ruling in a related case.
“Because of that decision, my family was targeted, threatened and harassed,” she said. “But I stayed in office and I did my job.”
NEWSSCENTER MAINE: Maine Secretary of State Shenna Bellows announces bid for governor
Those attending the announcement said they feel Bellows is the right fit for the Blaine House.
“I’m excited that we could have in Maine an example of the best of everything we believe is good in our country in one person, and she will be a bright shining light,” Ellen Dohmen said.
MARCH 26, 2025 - Bellows made the announcement Wednesday morning at the Hancock Community Center, returning to the town where she grew up.
"I believe now more than ever we need a new day in America. That begins with new leadership. And I'm proud and humbled to announce that today I announced my run for governor for the great state of Maine," Bellows said to a room of family, friends, and supporters.
Bellows attended Ellsworth High School, where she ran cross-country and track, before she went to Middlebury College.
Bellows is the first woman to serve as Maine secretary of state and was sworn into office in 2021.
Prior to her tenure as secretary of state, Bellows served as a state senator and was the executive director of the American Civil Liberties Union of Maine.
She also ran as a Democratic challenger for U.S. Senate against incumbent Sen. Susan Collins in 2014 but lost to the senior senator.
In 2016, Bellows ran a successful campaign for Maine Senate, representing her new home residence of Manchester and 10 other central Maine communities. She was re-elected and served as a state senator through 2020.
Bellows currently serves as Maine's secretary of state and has since 2021.
Those attending the announcement said they feel Bellows is the right fit for the Blaine House.
“I’m excited that we could have in Maine an example of the best of everything we believe is good in our country in one person, and she will be a bright shining light,” Ellen Dohmen said.
[READ MORE]
WABI: Shenna Bellows Formally Announces Run for Governor of Maine
"...I think that Shenna can take that to the next level and that's really what I'm looking for," said Hancock resident Carol Lowrie.
March 26, 2025 - In 2021, Bellows was sworn in as Maine’s first female Secretary of State.
"...I think that Shenna can take that to the next level and that's really what I'm looking for," said Hancock resident Carol Lowrie.
"We're in a really challenging moment for our democracy and our economy, working families are really struggling, we need bold leadership that will step up to meet the moment," said Bellows.
[READ MORE]
WMTW: 'We need a new day': Secretary of State Shenna Bellows Launches Campaign for Maine Governor
Bellows also talked about access to health care and the cost of medication at both her events on Wednesday.
"Good health and wellness is a human right. Nobody in this country should be sick because they are poor or poor because they are sick.”
"I believe every Mainer deserves a home because everyone deserves a safe place to sleep at night,’ Bellows said Wednesday. She said she also believes every child deserves a good education and that ‘our entrepreneurs need bridges not barriers to success."
Bellows also talked about access to health care and the cost of medication at both her events on Wednesday.
"Good health and wellness is a human right. Nobody in this country should be sick because they are poor or poor because they are sick.”
[READ MORE]
PORTLAND PRESS HERALD: Shenna Bellows Announces Campaign for Maine Governor
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.
Bellows, 50, said her humble beginnings and professional career… 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.
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.