THE ELLSWORTH AMERICAN: Shenna Bellows Announces She is Running for Governor

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.

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