Shenna Bellows Elected As Maine’s First Female Secretary Of State

On Wednesday, the 130th Legislature elected former Democratic State Senator Shenna Bellows of Manchester as Maine’s new secretary of state. Shenna Bellows will be the first woman ever to hold the position of Secretary of State in Maine.

Bellows, an attorney and former director of the Maine Civil Liberties Union, was just re-elected to another term in the state Senate, but will need to resign that position.

She was the winner in a six-way race, decided by ranked-choice voting in the Democratic caucus. In the final tally she defeated fellow Democratic Rep. Erik Jorgensen for the nomination.

Republicans had nominated their own candidate for secretary of state—former state senator and U.S. Senate candidate Eric Brakey. He and Bellows faced each other in an election Wednesday in a joint session of the full Legislature, but since Democrats hold a clear majority in both House and Senate, Bellows was nearly certain to be elected.

Maine’s secretary of state is one of only three in the country elected by the Legislature. The secretary manages a department of 435 people and is responsible for elections, driver licenses, motor vehicle registration and related laws, as well as corporate registration and the state archives.

Bellows takes office in January.

Megan Diver

Megan has worked in Maine politics for more than ten years and all of her professional career, having served in many roles for elected officials (including former Secretary of State Charlie Summers), in-house with the Maine Association of REALTORS®, legislative specialist at Pierce Atwood LLP providing lobbying services and support to Pierce Atwood’s government relations clients and most recently senior government relations specialist at the Maine State Chamber of Commerce. Megan currently is the Vice President at the Maine Energy Marketers Association, utilizing her vast knowledge and legislative experience at the State House to represent MEMA on policies relating to the Association and its members.