Maine Secretary of State Shenna Bellows enters US Senate race and calls Israel's actions in Gaza genocide
Shenna Bellows, Maine's Secretary of State, announced she is seeking the Democratic nomination for US Senate to replace Graham Platner, who withdrew following sexual assault allegations. In an appearance on CNN's 'The Source' on July 13, 2026, Bellows stated that 'the Israeli government is committing genocide in Gaza right now' and called for halting US taxpayer funding to Israel. A nominating convention to select Platner's replacement is scheduled for July 25, 2026.
22
Divergence score
This event sits in the top 23% of divergence this week. 2 outlets covered it, splitting into 2 framing camps across 2 bias groups.
2 camps
2 bias groups
The spectrum · how 2 outlets placed this story
LeftCenterRight
Times of Israel
CNN
Supportive of action
Neutral
Dismissive
Critical
Alarmist
International angle
The split, in one line
Times of Israel leads with Bellows calling Israel genocidal and frames it as a spreading Democratic trend, while CNN frames the same interview around Bellows's Senate candidacy itself, treating the genocide comment as incidental.
How each outlet covered it
Lightly covered so far
Too few outlets to map a left-right split. Here is each take as it stands.
Sparse coverage · 2 outlets
“Candidate vying to replace Platner claims Israel 'committing genocide in Gaza right now'”
“Maine Secretary of State on decision to run for U.S. Senate: 'everything that we care about is at stake'”
Tracked claims from across the political spectrum
Fact ledger
Corroborated
Disputed