Democrat Rep. Jared Golden Disapproves of Ruling Finding Trump Ineligible for Ballot in Maine: ‘We Are a Nation of Laws’

U.S. Rep. Jared Golden, D-Maine, speaks ceremony for a Zumwalt-class guided missile destro
AP Photo/David Sharp
Nick Gilbertson

Rep. Jared Golden (D-ME) is opposed to Maine Secretary of State Shenna Bellows’ ruling that former President Donald Trump is ineligible for the ballot in Maine, as he has not been found guilty of insurrection.

Bellows’ controversial ruling, which came down on Thursday, will only take effect after the U.S. Supreme Court has a chance to weigh in, as Breitbart News’s Hannah Bleau Knudsen noted. In her ruling, Bellows cited Section Three of the Fourteenth Amendment, or the Insurrection Clause, as cause for to disqualify Trump from the ballot.

And while she told MSNBC she is “duty-bound to make this determination,” Golden issued a statement Trump should be on the ballot as he has not been convicted of insurrection, though Golden personally believes he participated in an “insurrection” on January 6, 2021:

I voted to impeach Donald Trump for his role in the January 6th insurrection. I do not believe he should be re-elected President of the United States. However, we are a nation of laws, therefore until he is actually found guilty of the crime of insurrection, he should be allowed on the ballot.

Notably, in the federal case against Trump regarding his campaign’s challenge to the 2020 election results, special counsel Jack Smith has not charged him with either insurrection or seditious conspiracy. The charges include Conspiracy Against Rights, Conspiracy to Defraud the United States, Conspiracy to Obstruct an Official Proceeding, and Obstruction of and Attempt to Obstruct an Official Proceeding.

WASHINGTON, DC - JUNE 09: Special Counsel Jack Smith delivers remarks on a recently unsealed indictment against former President Donald Trump at the Justice Department on June 9, 2023 in Washington, DC. Former U.S. President Donald Trump has been indicted on 37 felony counts in the special counsel's classified documents probe. (Photo by Alex Wong/Getty Images)

WASHINGTON, DC – JUNE 09: Special Counsel Jack Smith delivers remarks on a recently unsealed indictment against former President Donald Trump at the Justice Department on June 9, 2023 in Washington, DC. Former U.S. President Donald Trump has been indicted on 37 felony counts in the special counsel’s classified documents probe. (Photo by Alex Wong/Getty Images)

The Trump campaign slammed Bellows in a statement on Friday morning.

“The Maine Secretary of State is a former ACLU [American Civil Liberties Union] attorney, a virulent leftist and a hyper-partisan Biden-supporting Democrat who has decided to interfere in the presidential election on behalf of Crooked Joe Biden,” Trump campaign spokesman Steven Cheung said in a Thursday statement, adding:

We are witnessing, in real-time, the attempted theft of an election and the disenfranchisement of the American voter. Democrats in blue states are recklessly and un-Constitutionally suspending the civil rights of the American voters by attempting to summarily remove President Trump’s name from the ballot. Make no mistake, these partisan election interference efforts are a hostile assault on American democracy. Biden and the Democrats simply do not trust the American voter in a free and fair election and are now relying on the force of government institutions to protect their grip on power.

Top Republicans, including House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) and other Trump allies, weighed in as well, with many arguing the ruling is an affront to the Democratic process.

FILE - House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., talks with reporters at the Capitol in Washington, Nov. 2, 2023. As Johnson tries to unite the slim House Republican majority, he's fast running into the same hard-right factions and divisions that his predecessor, Kevin McCarthy was unable to tame. It's disrupting the GOP agenda, shelving priorities and leaving gnawing questions about any leader's ability to govern.(AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite, File)

FILE – House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., talks with reporters at the Capitol in Washington, Nov. 2, 2023. As Johnson tries to unite the slim House Republican majority, he’s fast running into the same hard-right factions and divisions that his predecessor, Kevin McCarthy was unable to tame. It’s disrupting the GOP agenda, shelving priorities and leaving gnawing questions about any leader’s ability to govern.(AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite, File)

Bellows’ decision and citation of the insurrection clause mirrors the decision of the Colorado Supreme Court to block Trump’s ballot access. That ruling has been petitioned by both Trump’s legal team and the Colorado Republican Party, and it has been stayed until the U.S. Supreme Court makes a determination in the case, as Breitbart News noted. In other words, Trump will remain on the ballot until the Supreme Court rules on the matter unless it opts not to hear the case. In that event, the state Supreme Court’s ruling would hold, and Trump would be barred from the ballot.

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