To the editor:
Consider what Shenna Bellows can do for you and your neighbors as Maine’s next U.S. Senator. As Executive Director of the Maine ACLU, she demonstrated that she is a political winner who can forge alliances across party lines and get things done. Having fought for privacy, equal opportunity, and voting rights, Shenna has earned the admiration of well-respected Republicans, Democrats, and Libertarians. She worked with the conservative Maine Heritage Policy Center to
make Maine one of only two states to require warrants for cell phone access and enact protections against cell phone tracking.
Maine Republican columnist George Smith has praised her for her dedication to defending the Bill of Rights, for leading campaigns to restore same-day voter registration and the gay marriage referendum, and for working to “defeat Governor Paul LePage’s ill-considered attempt to keep more of his work secret.”
On the other hand, the Progressive Change Campaign Committee (PCCC) has endorsed Shenna and calls her “the Elizabeth Warren of Civil liberties.” Without any corporate PAC money, Shenna raised more than her Republican opponent in the first quarter of her campaign, and 80 percent of her donations were amounts of $100 or less from Maine people. She supports campaign finance reform and sees corporate campaign spending as “one of the biggest threats to our democracy.”
Before serving with the Maine ACLU, Shenna worked to advance economic opportunity and fairness: at Economists Incorporated, in the Peace Corps as a small-business development volunteer working with artisans to establish a micro-lending project in rural Panama, at AmeriCorps where she worked on economic and educational development for young people in Nashville’s largest housing project, and in a variety of other economic venues.
Her campaign focuses on local Maine economies, communities, workers, and businesses, as well as on the environment and the Constitution. With her unique combination of Progressive and Libertarian views and experience, Mainers will always know where she stands and know that she’s standing for them first.
I have met and talked with Shenna at a variety of events from Aroostook County to Augusta, and I am very impressed with her energy, passion, and ability to work long hours. Her vigorous grassroots campaign reminds me of Sen. Bill Cohen decades ago, on the road every day talking directly with Maine citizens.
She will be in Aroostook County again this weekend. Meet her at the dog-sled races in Fort Kent, Saturday, March 1. Come to a house party to socialize and enjoy light refreshments with her in Presque Isle, Friday, Feb. 28, at 7 p.m. at 33 Cedar Street. Call me at 768-5827 for more information or to RSVP.
Alice Bolstridge
Presque Isle
