At Brooksville event, Bellows proposes a housing corps for Maine

Democratic candidate also says Maine ‘may need to look’ at new taxes on second homes and investment properties

Shenna Bellows at an event in Brooksville on Oct. 5. Photo by John Epstein.

By John Epstein

Some 50 people gathered Oct. 5 at the Brooksville home of Marc Tucker and Kathy Bonk to meet Shenna Bellows, the first woman to serve as Maine’s Secretary of State and a Democratic candidate for governor. She discussed the rising cost of housing, healthcare concerns, and the need to find “common ground” solutions. 

Her appearance came just days after 250 blank voting ballots mysteriously showed up in an Amazon package delivered to a Newburgh home. At the same time, the city of Ellsworth reported that 250 ballots it had ordered never arrived.

Bellows, as secretary of state, is responsible for Maine’s elections. She held a press conference the following day, Oct. 6, in which she said that the system’s checks and balances thwart election interference.

“I assure you, we will find out who did this,” Bellows said at a press conference on Oct. 6, noting that all ballots are traced by election workers.  “Maine elections are free, safe and secure,” she added.

Authorities, including the FBI, are investigating the matter.

A childhood home without electricity

Bellows grew up in Hancock, Maine living with her parents, younger sister and brother in a house that didn’t have electricity or hot water until she was in 5th grade.

“The experience made me realize the importance of housing,” she said.  

She went to the local elementary school, where she got free therapy to alleviate a speech impediment.  “Because of that experience, I will always be a supporter of public education,” Bellows said.

Her father was a self-employed carpenter. Her mother worked at Surry Gardens before becoming a nurse. Bellows spoke of working various part-time jobs, including waitressing and working in a biology lab, during her years as a student at Ellsworth High School and then Middlebury College, where she studied economics.

After working a couple of years as an economic analyst in Washington, DC to pay off student loans, Bellows went into public service, working for Americorps and then the Peace Corps.  She later became executive director of the Maine chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union, from 2006 to 2013.

Seeking common ground

Bellows ran an unsuccessful campaign to unseat Sen. Susan Collins in 2014, but went on to win to become a Maine state senator in 2016.

She said she believes in crossing party lines to get things done.

“Republicans and independents worry about the same things that Democrats do – taxes, public education and health care,” she said, noting that she has received bi-partisan support for state legislation to set up a recovery house, streamline medical licensing, and secure property tax relief. “It’s always possible to find common ground.”

Plans for governor

Should she become Maine’s governor, Bellows has plans for some of the state’s most pressing concerns, including affordable housing and health care.

“I would like to set up a housing corps program in Maine where young people can apprentice to learn a trade like plumbing or electrical, while building or rehabilitating old buildings,” she said.  “Not only would the state gain more living spaces, but we’d fill a worker shortage. Try to find a plumber these days,” she added.

Bellows praised the efforts by Governor Janet Mills and the Maine Legislature developing programs that funded affordable housing through government and private sector partnerships.  She looks to modular housing as a sensible way to maximize housing availability and she praises local community programs, like one in Waterville, where derelict houses are rebuilt as affordable living spaces.

Bellows is cognizant of the inflationary impact new Maine residents have had on real estate prices, reducing the availability of moderately priced housing for young families. 

“We may need to look at how we tax second homes and those that have been purchased as investment properties” she said.

She also said she is worried about Maine’s health care needs, particularly in rural areas. 

“I believe in universal health care for all,” she said. “No one should be sick because they are poor, and no one should be poor because they are sick,” she added, noting that a healthy population leads to a healthy economy.

Acknowledging that federal cuts to Medicaid will severely impact Maine’s poorest residents, Bellows sees the state developing partnerships with not-for-profit health care providers to provide services, particularly in rural areas.  She said she has also begun to explore the idea of partnering with other states in the Northeast to develop a regional health care system that could lower costs and insurance rates.

The primary election in Maine will be held on June 9, 2026. Between now and then, Bellows said she plans on criss-crossing the state.

“I’m visiting all 16 counties meeting Republicans, Independents, and Democrats because we’ll win by bringing people together,” said.