Maine's Democrat Secretary of State Shenna Bellows ruled former President Donald Trump is ineligible for the state's primary because of the Constitution's Fourteen Amendment which some have dubbed the "insurrection clause."
A group of former Maine lawmakers including a Democrat, a Republican, and an Independent brought the issue to Bellows.
"We believe former President Trump on January 6 engaged in direct insurrection against the Constitution of the United States and under section three of the 14th Amendment that disqualifies him from holding the office of the president," said the plaintiffs' attorney James Kilbreth during the hearing earlier this month.
Trump's attorneys called the ruling "atrocious." They had cited other state decisions to keep him on the ballot in their arguments to try and stop him from being disqualified in Maine.
"All who have been asked to engage in this type of disqualification and every administrative official has declined to do that, for good reason," said Trump attorney Scott Gessler.
The decision in Maine follows a similar ruling in Colorado earlier this month in which Trump was also disqualified from the ballot.
"When we looked at the weight of evidence, it became clear that January 6 was an attack not only on the Capitol, on government officials, but also an attack on the rule of law," Bellows told CNN following her decision.
Bellows says her decision will be suspended until it works its way through appeals. The Supreme Court could also weigh in on Trump's eligibility following the Colorado decision.
Additional fights over Trump's eligibility are happening in more than a dozen states, and he's had several victories so far.
Earlier this week, the Michigan Supreme Court rejected a bid to disqualify Trump for that state's primary. And last night, California's Secretary of State declined calls by state Democrats to remove Trump's name from the ballot.
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