Maine judge upholds decision to keep transgender sports question off 2026 ballot

By Michael Shepherd, Bangor Daily News Staff

A Maine judge on Thursday upheld Secretary of State Shenna Bellows’ decision to remove a conservative referendum that would ban transgender girls from competing on female scholastic sports teams from the November 2026 ballot.

Superior Court Justice Deborah Cashman denied the appeal filed by Protect Girls’ Sports in Maine, a ballot question committee that had sought to overturn Bellows’ revised determination finding the petition just over 500 signatures short of almost 68,000 required.

The ruling affirmed the Democratic secretary of state’s decision to invalidate thousands of signatures due in part to circulator fraud and misconduct that was uncovered during court-ordered hearings in May.  

Cashman rejected each of the committee’s four challenges to Bellows’ decision, finding the secretary of state did not err on any of the disputed issues. She preserved the core arguments of both sides in anticipation of an appeal to Maine’s high court.

The referendum, largely bankrolled by Republican megadonor Richard Uihlein, who gave $800,000 to the effort, would also bar transgender girls from private spaces aligning with their gender identities.