Maine Republicans on Wednesday blasted the decision by Secretary of State Shenna Bellows to remove former President Donald Trump from primary ballots.

House Minority Leader Billy Bob Faulkingham (R-Winter Harbor) described Bellows as “unfit for office” and said her decision was political.

“She has made a decision that threatens to throw our country into chaos,” he said with dozens of fellow Republicans by his side at the State House. “A political move that has very terrifying and dangerous consequences. A move that says I as the Secretary of State have the ability to remove someone from the ballot just based on my own personal feelings.”

Faulkingham’s comments came on the first day of the new legislative session, a day marked by packed hallways full of people lobbying legislators to pass new gun control measures.

But in their weekly press briefing, Republicans focused on Bellows and her decision to bar Trump from ballots in Maine based on her interpretation of the Constitution’s 14th Amendment. The amendment prohibits those who have previously taken the oath of office and engaged in insurrection from serving again.

Following a Dec. 15 hearing, Bellows concluded that Trump had engaged in insurrection on Jan. 6, 2021, making him ineligible to appear on Maine ballots. However, she stayed her decision in anticipation of an appeal.

That appeal came Tuesday, when Trump filed a complaint in Superior Court. A day later, he appealed a Colorado decision to keep him off the ballot to the U.S. Supreme Court.

In Maine, Rep. John Andrews (R-Paris) filed a resolution to form a House Special Investigative Committee to consider impeaching Bellows from office.

Andrews expects the resolution to appear on the House Calendar on Tuesday.

The order, which Andrews gave to Spectrum News on Wednesday, explains that the Maine Constitution allows civil officers to be “removed by impeachment for misdemeanor in office.”

Bellows told reporters that the impeachment proceedings, should they move forward, would be unprecedented.

“It would be unprecedented for an elected official to be removed for doing their duty under the law and the Constitution of the United States,” she said.

The resolution is unlikely to make it out of the House, given the wide Democratic majority in the chamber.

Democrats control the House with 80 members, compared to 68 Republicans, two independents and one vacancy.

Bellows, a Democrat, was appointed to her position by fellow Democrats in the Maine Legislature.

Republicans on Tuesday also criticized Bellows for being an elector for President Joe Biden in 2020, prior to her term as secretary of state.

In response, Bellows said when she was appointed to the position, she took an oath to uphold the Constitution.

“I have worked with Republicans, Democrats and independents alike on bipartisan election laws over the past three years and I’m really proud of that work and that work will continue regardless of the politics,” she said.

Faulkingham said her decision sets a dangerous precedent that could open the door to Republicans deciding to keep candidates they don’t like off the ballot.

“Could now Republican secretaries of state remove Joe Biden from the ballot?” he said. “What would our country become if people nonchalantly carried out decisions like this?”

He also pointed out that three of the state’s four members of Congress — Republican Sen. Susan Collins, independent Sen. Angus King and Rep. Jared Golden (D-2nd District ) disagreed with her decision. Only U.S. Rep. Chellie Pingree (D-1st District) agreed with Bellows.

In addition to the political fallout, Bellows and her staff have received threats following the release of her decision.

On Friday, Maine State Police investigated what they described as a hoax swatting incident at Bellows’ Manchester home. 

She said Wednesday that threats against her and those who work in her office have subsided but are continuing.

“The abusive, aggressive and threatening communications that my team here at Nash School had to endure on Friday that targeted my family, the swatting incident at my home on Friday night, those are unacceptable,” she said. “That has abated but not stopped.”

As she has in various television and radio interviews, Bellows continued to explain her decision as something she felt bound by duty to reach.

“My decision is based solely and exclusively on the facts and the record, the laws of Maine and the Constitution,” she said. “I did not have the discretion to delay or decline to issue a decision.”

Senate Minority Leader Trey Stewart (R-Presque Isle) described her decision as “extraconstitutional” and predicted that it will be overturned by the courts.

“She is in fact the best thing that Donald Trump has going for him right now, by helping to stir up our base and motivate our folks,” Stewart said. “I can tell you the Republican base in Maine is incredibly energized over this.”