FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: Bellows for Maine Releases “No Shortcuts” Launch Video
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Wednesday, April 2, 2025
CONTACT:
Press@shennabellows.com
Bellows for Maine Releases “No Shortcuts” Launch Video
“This is a moment that calls for leadership, boldness, action.”
Augusta, ME: A week after launching her campaign for governor and raising $200,000, the Bellows for Maine campaign is releasing its launch video, “No Shortcuts,” highlighting Secretary of State Shenna Bellows’ working class background and outlining her vision for Maine.
“From my childhood in Hancock County to the Secretary of State’s office I’ve always been guided by the values my parents taught me: work hard, no shortcuts,” said Shenna Bellows. “With a greedy unelected billionaire in Washington demolishing our country, we need leadership, boldness, and action to meet this moment. I’m honored to have the support of so many Mainers already and look forward to earning your votes.”
Last Wednesday, Bellows announced her campaign for Governor at two events in Hancock and Augusta surrounded by hundreds of family, friends, and supporters.
The Bellow for Maine launch video includes footage and audio from the Hancock and Augusta campaign events and highlights Bellow’s working class background, her experience growing up in rural Maine without electricity and running water, and the values her parents taught her: to work hard and take no shortcuts, to be honest, and to take care of her community.
Bellows speaks of her leadership in the marriage equality campaign at the ACLU, her record fighting for abortion access and reproductive freedom, her success in winning property relief as a state senator, her role improving services for Mainers at the Bureau of Motor Vehicles, and her decision to remove Donald Trump from the ballot last winter.
VIDEO TRANSCRIPT
Secretary Bellows: Now more than ever we need a new day in America. We need new leadership.
And I’m proud to announce that I am Shenna Bellows and I’m running for Governor of the great state of Maine.
Growing up in Maine, like so many families, we didn’t have it easy.
We didn't have running water or electricity until I was in the fifth grade. But somehow, my parents never made us feel poor.
My dad was a carpenter who worked hard to support us.
My mom worked factory jobs making light bulbs and Christmas wreaths.
My parents taught me that if you want something, you work hard. No shortcuts. No excuses.
And while we’re paying our taxes or helping our parents measure out their medications, our country is being demolished by a greedy, unelected billionaire who thinks his dollars are more powerful than our voices
Right now we need leaders who will meet the moment.
Leadership was when I won a state senate seat that voted for Donald Trump and voted for me that same year.
I ran on promises to fight for property tax relief and safe drinking water. And I delivered to my district…and I was re-elected time and time again.
Leadership was stepping up as Maine’s Secretary of State. I brought online appointments to the BMV so people can get in, get out, and get home.
And above all, leadership means doing what is right, even when it’s hard.
Last winter, I issued a decision that declared Donald Trump ineligible to be on the ballot because of his incitement of the January 6th insurrection.
News Clip: Maine’s top election official has now disqualified Donald Trump from the ballot in that state…
Secretary Bellows: And because of that decision, my family and I were targeted, threatened, and harassed.
But I stayed in office and did my job…because Mainers elected me to do right by them, to uphold the constitution and the law of the land.
As your next Governor, I’ll fight for affordable housing, and good paying jobs to help working families prosper. I’ll fight for a fair system where the wealthy pay their fair share, and we do right by working people and small business owners. I’ll fight to always keep our kids, people with disabilities and seniors safe.
This is a moment that calls for leadership, boldness, action.
Are you with me?
Shenna Bellows Background:
Bellows grew up in Hancock County. At the age of four, her family bought a plot of land in the town of Hancock and spent their first summer living in a tent and the first winter living in the basement. Eventually, Bellows’ father built a log cabin for them, but they did not have running water or electricity in that home until she was in 5th grade.
Her father was a carpenter, and her mother worked as a waitress and in a lightbulb and wreath factory to make ends meet, but they still struggled financially. Bellows worked her way through high school and college as a waitress, babysitter, retail worker, lab research assistant, Subway Sandwich Artist, and in the kitchen at the local lobster pound.
Early in her career, as the Executive Director of the ACLU in Maine, Bellows organized successful campaigns for Maine Choice Coalition and the Coalition for Maine Women to defeat Paul LePage’s attacks on abortion and contraception in 2011. The same year, she co-chaired the statewide Protect Maine Votes campaign to preserve same day voter registration. The following year, she worked to improve consumer privacy, specifically to protect Mainers’ private cell phone data. She helped lead Mainers United for Marriage over the course of seven years to pass same-sex marriage protections in Maine via a popular vote in 2012.
In 2016, Bellows ran for the State Senate in Kennebec County in a district won by Donald Trump. She was re-elected in 2018 and 2020. During her time in the State Senate, she helped pass legislation to:
Provide property tax relief for Maine residents
Streamline medical licensing to bring more doctors to the state
Ensure equal pay for women
Provide “Breakfast after the Bell” for Maine students, a program to feed students breakfast at school
Protect and expand Meals on Wheels for seniors
Protect workers’ compensation and establish paid sick leave through bipartisan reforms.
In 2021, she was sworn in as Maine’s first woman Secretary of State. As Secretary of State, Bellows has focused on making government work better for Mainers and modernizing the office. Under her leadership, the Bureau of Motor Vehicles began using online appointments so people can get in, get out, and get on with their busy lives. Bellows implemented online voter registration, and automatic voter registration at the BMV, making it easier for Mainers to make their voices heard. Under her leadership, Maine led the nation in voter participation in 2022.
