Maine secretary of State drops out of Senate race

Campaign Maine secretary of State drops out of Senate race Comments: by Ashleigh Fields - 07/19/26 6:21 PM ET Comments: Link copied by Ashleigh Fields - 07/19/26 6:21 PM ET Comments: Link copied

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Maine Secretary of State Shenna Bellows (D) on Sunday said she was dropping out of the Democratic primary for the Senate in the Pine Tree State a little more than a week after announcing her campaign.

“Today I am withdrawing from the U.S. Senate race. Donald Trump’s attacks on our democracy are only accelerating, and the best way that I can serve our state and country at this moment is by focusing exclusively on my role as Secretary of State,” Bellows wrote in a statement posted to social media.

“This has been an unprecedented nominating process, compressed into days instead of months, and I’m grateful to every volunteer who worked around the clock for this movement. That energy is exactly what we need to beat Susan Collins in November — and Democrats don’t have a day to waste in unifying around that shared goal,” she added, referring to Maine’s incumbent GOP Sen. Susan Collins.

Bellows, who previously ran for Senate in 2014, was vying to replace Graham Platner, who dropped out of the race following several scandals that made national headlines.

Platner was accused of rape by two women, allegedly had a tattoo that resembled a Nazi Totenkopf and made remarks online deemed as racist in previous years.

Democrats in Maine held a debate for potential nominees to outline their credentials to serve in the Senate following Graham’s departure from the race.

It’s a part of their special nomination process that will conclude on July 25 after 601 delegates vote to select the new Democratic nominee.

Bellows’s decision to remain as secretary of State means she will preside over the midterm elections in Maine as the state’s chief election official.

Within 20 days after an election, Bellows must tabulate all election returns from municipalities statewide and submit a certified copy of the tabulation to the governor, according to state law.

In contested races, the secretary of State’s office supervises the official recount process, which involves a manual review of ballots by state staff and candidate representatives to determine the official vote tally, per the governor’s office.

Currently, Troy Jackson is leading in the polls to become the Democratic nominee for Maine’s Senate race, according to the Mai n e Public outlet.

Jackson is facing more than 10 other candidates, who are competing to replace Platner.

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