Maine hides home addresses of lawmakers after Minnesota shootings

By Billy Kobin, Bangor Daily News Staff

AUGUSTA — The home addresses of Maine lawmakers are no longer listed on the Legislature’s website after a gunman killed a Minnesota legislator and her husband and wounded another and his wife over the weekend.

Maine officials also removed personal information from a candidate filing website, Secretary of State Shenna Bellows said Tuesday. State lawmakers in Maine have had the option of listing their personal addresses and contact information on the Legislature’s website. As of Tuesday morning, the site no longer included home addresses and instead only listed for each member the State House address in Augusta.

The Legislature’s top administrator did not immediately respond Tuesday to a request for comment on the move. The state’s campaign finance database, which is managed by the Maine Ethics Commission, continued to include addresses for lawmakers and candidates. Maine Ethics Commission Executive Director Jonathan Wayne declined comment.

The changes came after a man fatally shot Saturday a Democratic state representative and former Minnesota House speaker, Melissa Hortman, and her husband, Mark, and also wounded state Sen. John Hoffman and his wife, Yvette, at their respective homes in towns near Minneapolis. Police arrested the alleged shooter, 57-year-old Vance Boelter of Green Isle, Minnesota, on Sunday after an extensive manhunt.

Prosecutors said he also went to the homes of two other Minnesota lawmakers the night of the attacks but did not find them and spent months preparing for what officials described as political assassinations. Officials said his writings about the planned attacks mentioned only Democratic politicians, including more than 45 state and federal officials in Minnesota. Elected leaders in Wisconsin, Michigan and Ohio said they learned they were mentioned as well.

The latest case of political violence in America put renewed attention on the balance between access, privacy and safety for elected officials. Similar decisions are playing out in other states since the Minnesota shootings. For example, Colorado officials temporarily removed the state’s campaign finance database from the internet Saturday in response to the Minnesota attacks.

Bellows, a Democrat whose home was “swatted” in 2023 after she disqualified President Donald Trump from the state’s primary ballot before the U.S. Supreme Court reversed her move, said she and her team decided Saturday to remove personal information for candidates from her office’s filing site. Bellows said she was not involved in or aware of other discussions among Maine officials over other potential steps they may take in response to the Minnesota attacks.

Assistant House Minority Leader Katrina Smith, R-Palermo, said Tuesday she is in favor of keeping lawmakers’ home addresses off the Legislature’s website “at least temporarily” after the weekend violence.

“With such small districts it’s generally known by our constituents where we live, but to make it super easy for anyone to access addresses I believe could pose a threat in these contentious times,” Smith said. “I want all legislators to be safe to express the views they feel are best for who they represent.”

Bellows said it was a “crystal clear” decision to remove home addresses from the filing site that is separate from Maine’s campaign finance database. She added constituents have various options for getting in touch with their elected leaders.

“It was an easy decision,” Bellows said. “We’re in an era of increasing threats against public officials.”