Maine is disqualifying Donald Trump from the 2024 Republican primary because of the 14th Amendment's prohibition of insurrection. Secretary of State Shenna Bellows made the decision. Maine is the second state after Colorado to exclude the former president from the primaries due to the events of January 6, 2021.
“I am aware that no Secretary of State has ever denied a presidential candidate access to the vote based on Section 3 of the 14th Amendment. “However, I am also aware that no presidential candidate has ever been involved in an insurrection,” the Secretary said from Maine. Trump has five days to appeal the decision in state courts. The primaries in Maine and Colorado are scheduled for March 5. The 14th Amendment states in Section 3 that officials sworn to uphold the Constitution will be disqualified from holding future office if they engage in “insurrection” or “insurrection” against the Constitution. The amendment was used against Confederate President Jefferson Davis and his deputy Alexander Stephens (both of whom had served in Congress), but has rarely been used since and never against a White House candidate. Section 3 was created to prevent civil or military officials who had served in the United States before the Civil War from regaining positions of authority if they had betrayed their country by supporting the Southern Confederacy.
Bellows will not have the final say on Trump's political career. The decision can be appealed to the courts in Maine. The U.S. Supreme Court is expected to make a final decision on whether Trump should run for president early next year. The decision in Maine shows the potential dangers for Trump if the issue is decided on a state-by-state basis. He lost Colorado by 13 percentage points in 2020 and doesn't need that to win the presidency. But Maine divides its electoral votes by congressional district, and Trump has won the state's 2nd Congressional District twice