ELLSWORTH, Maine (AP) - The former executive director of the American Civil Liberties Union of Maine has formally launched her campaign for U.S. Senate.

Shenna Bellows, who's seeking the Democratic Party nomination to challenge three-term Republican Susan Collins, told supporters Wednesday in Ellsworth that the nation needs more "courage and honesty" in Washington.

She held the kickoff event in Ellsworth, next to the town of Hancock, where she grew up. That's being followed by events in Portland, Lewiston and Eliot, along with a rally Thursday in Presque Isle.

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Bellows has never run for public office, but this will not be her first campaign. She helped lead the ballot-measure campaign to approve same-sex marriage in Maine last year