The Indian Panorama

Tag: Maine

  • After Colorado, Maine bars Donald Trump from presidential primary

    After Colorado, Maine bars Donald Trump from presidential primary

    Trump campaign says it would appeal Bellows’ decision to Maine’s state courts

    PORTLAND, MAINE (TIP): Maine’s Democratic secretary of state on Thursday, December 28, removed former President Donald Trump from the state’s presidential primary ballot under the Constitution’s insurrection clause, becoming the first election official to take action unilaterally as the US Supreme Court is poised to decide whether Trump remains eligible to return to the White House.

    The decision by Secretary of State Shenna Bellows follows a ruling earlier this month by the Colorado Supreme Court that booted Trump from the ballot there under Section 3 of the 14th Amendment. That decision has been stayed until the US Supreme Court decides whether Trump is barred by the Civil War-era provision, which prohibits those who “engaged in insurrection” from holding office.

    The Trump campaign said it would appeal Bellows’ decision to Maine’s state courts, and Bellows suspended her ruling until that court system rules on the case. In the end, it is likely that the nation’s highest court will have the final say on whether Trump appears on the ballot in Maine and in the other states.

    Bellows found that Trump could no longer run for his prior job because his role in the January 6, 2021, attack on the US Capitol violated Section 3, which bans from office those who “engaged in insurrection”. Bellows made the ruling after some state residents, including a bipartisan group of former lawmakers, challenged Trump’s position on the ballot.“I do not reach this conclusion lightly,” Bellows wrote in her 34-page decision. “I am mindful that no Secretary of State has ever deprived a presidential candidate of ballot access based on Section 3 of the Fourteenth Amendment. I am also mindful, however, that no presidential candidate has ever before engaged in insurrection.”

    The Trump campaign immediately slammed the ruling. “We are witnessing, in real-time, the attempted theft of an election and the disenfranchisement of the American voter,” campaign spokesman Steven Cheung said in a statement. Legal experts said that Thursday’s ruling demonstrates the need for the nation’s highest court, which has never ruled on Section 3, to clarify what states can do.

  • Indian Origin Senate Candidate Sara Gideon Wins Democratic Primary from Maine

    Indian Origin Senate Candidate Sara Gideon Wins Democratic Primary from Maine

    NEW YORK (TIP): Indian origin Democrat Sara Gideon, the speaker of the Maine House of Representatives, on Tuesday July 14 formally became the Democratic nominee to challenge Sen. Susan Collins of Maine.

    “We did it! Thank you to everyone who has supported our campaign to elect a senator who will fight for Mainers—not special interests,” Gideon said in a tweet after her victory.

    “We are facing unprecedented challenges right now. The coronavirus pandemic continues to threaten our health, our safety, and our economy. And a broken Washington fails to take action because politicians put special interests and partisan politics before the people they’re supposed to represent. If we are going to come together and make real progress to improve the lives of people here in Maine and across the country, then we need new leadership. Because, after 24 years in Washington, Senator Collins has become part of that broken system, putting special interests and her political party first”, she further said in a statement.

    Sara launched her campaign in June 2019 and has visited all sixteen counties in Maine, holding in-person and virtual events to meet and talk with voters about their concerns and challenges they face. Sara has been endorsed by more than 75 elected officials from across Maine, as well as the Maine State Building and Construction Trades Council, Maine Service Employees Association, Maine State Association of Letter Carriers, the League of Conservation Voters Action Fund, the National Resources Defense Council Action Fund, NARAL, Planned Parenthood Action Fund, End Citizens United, and Everytown for Gun Safety.

    Daughter of Indian-American father and Armenian mother, Sara has raised a massive USD 23 million, which is a Maine record.