Maine trans city councilor resigns after 'health issues' made worse by Trump

A trans-identifying female city councilor for Waterville, Maine suddenly resigned from the post on Monday, citing health issues, both physical and mental, that were exacerbated by Trump’s election, which had left Finch needing to be hospitalized over breathing issues. 

In an email sent Monday night, obtained by the Morning Sentinel, Finch wrote that the now-former councilor had recovered from a "deathly illness" but is "still not quite mended."

Finch, a Democrat, wrote, "Mentally, I’ve taken a beating. I had taken a beating before getting sick and I’m absolutely certain it contributed to how physically ill I was. It didn’t start with the election, though that heavily contributed."

Finch had missed several meetings of the Waterville City Councillor over the summer because Finch spent six weeks in Wisconsin assisting family, Finch wrote, using all of the former councilor’s vacation, sick, and unpaid time."

"Then the election happened, and I again couldn’t catch my breath. Then the very first act that the new leader of the free world did was to tell me I didn’t exist. There has been zero time to catch my breath. It wasn’t until I actually literally couldn’t breathe that I had the opportunity to take a breath, and that was only when I was in the ER (emergency room), getting oxygen after my pulse ox dropped," Finch wrote.

Finch later added in the resignation letter, "No matter what pressures they are facing, from personal mental health, from their job, from their family, from their colleagues, we tell people to keep going and that it’s worth it. But when you put yourself last against others, is it worth it? Not making space for yourself when you need it is only telling yourself that you aren’t valuable unless it’s in the context of others, no matter how negative the experience  — no matter how much you can’t breathe."

Finch said that the former councilor did not "owe anyone my peace, my joy, my time, my explanations. No one is a failure for realizing that something isn’t working for them. This isn’t working for me; effective immediately, I resign from the Waterville City Council."

Finch was elected to the City Council in 2023, which was set to expire in 2026. City Clerk Patti Dubois said that a special election will take place in May or June to fill the seat.