Former President Donald Trump, on Tuesday, appealed the decision to remove him from Maine’s Republican primary ballot for his role in the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol.
Trump appealed Maine’s decision, made by Democrat Shenna Bellows, who became the first secretary of state in history to bar someone from running for the presidency under the rarely used Section 3 of the 14th Amendment, according to the Associated Press.
The provision Bellows used prohibits anyone who ‘engaged in insurrection’ from holding office.
The appeal will now head to Maine’s Supreme Court.
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Former President Donald Trump and Democrat Maine Secretary of State Shenna Bellows. (Getty Images)
Bellows made the ruling after some state residents, including a bipartisan group of former lawmakers, challenged Trump’s position on the ballot.
Trump’s lawyers requested Bellows disqualify herself over tweets that they believed showed bias. In the tweets, Bellows called the U.S. Capitol attack an “insurrection” and bemoaned that Trump wasn’t convicted by the U.S. Senate after being impeached by the U.S. House.
Former President Donald Trump speaks during a rally, Wednesday, Sept. 20, 2023, in Dubuque, Iowa. (AP Photo/Charlie Neibergall)
The Maine Republican Party said on X that it was working around the clock to stop Bellows and get Trump back on the ballot. The group weighed in on the social media platform after the appeal was filed.
“We’re fighting Shenna Bellows’ unilateral decision to toss Trump from the Maine ballot on every front and we’re glad this has been appealed,” the group wrote. “We are preparing for the Supreme Court. The voice of Mainers will be heard, despite the dirty partisan tricks being played.”
Maine law mandated that Bellows hold a public hearing over the issue, which she did in December. Bellows allowed each side to submit additional arguments after the Colorado Supreme Court’s historic Dec. 19 decision that Section 3 of the 14th amendment barred Trump from the ballot.
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Democrat Maine Secretary of State Shenna Bellows. (John Patriquin/Portland Press Herald via Getty Images)
Bellows suspended her ruling until Maine’s state Superior Court rules on the matter.
A ruling from the Colorado Supreme Court in December booted Trump from the ballot there under Section 3 of the 14th Amendment. Colorado is a Democratic-leaning state that is not expected to be competitive for Republicans in November.
Trump is expected to appeal the ruling of the Colorado Supreme Court directly to the U.S. Supreme Court. The nation’s highest court has never issued a decision on Section 3 and the Colorado court’s 4-3 ruling that it applied to Trump was the first time in history the provision was used to block a presidential candidate from appearing on the ballot.
Similar battles are playing out in other states, where activists have asked election officials to remove the former president from their states’ primary ballots under Section 3 of the 14th amendment.
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The U.S. Supreme Court is expected to make a final decision on Trump’s eligibility nationwide.
Fox News’ Bradford Betz and the Associated Press contributed to this report.