ROCKLAND, Maine — A Superior Court judge quickly ruled against Knox County Republican Chair Heather Sprague’s request for a protection from harassment order against Maine GOP Vice Chair Scott Rocknak.
Justice Daniel Billings said Sprague failed to provide evidence of harassment during her testimony Tuesday morning in the state court in Knox County.
Sprague had no other witnesses than herself and said Rocknak was trying to undertake a coup to remove her as chair of the county party.
Billings said much of what Sprague was claiming was free speech by someone criticizing her actions as a political party official.
Rocknak did not testify and his attorney, Nicole Milam, asked for a ruling against Sprague, saying she had not proven her case.
Sprague also claimed that Rocknak and reporter Stephen Betts of Midcoast Villager were working together to destroy her politically. She falsely claimed that the newspaper had printed an article about an OUI crash and arrest with her photograph attached to the story. She held up a photocopy of it that she said someone had sent her.
The Midcoast Villager did not include her photo with the OUI crash story.
Sprague said she had become chair of the Knox County GOP in January 2025 when no one else stepped forward. She said she had supported Rocknak when he sought and got the vice chair of the state GOP.
But then they parted ways when she tried to enforce what she was said were state rules to remove the county party treasurer because she was not a Knox County resident. She said he also objected to her allowing people to use a Nerf-like gun to shoot at the name of Democratic Gov. Janet Mills at the Republican’s booth in August 2025 at the Union Fair.
At a raucous county meeting held the evening of May 14, 2026, police were called. Rockland Police Chief Tim Carroll said no one was charged, according to the police report from the incident. The call was classified as a disorderly complaint. The chief said the discussion had become heated with comments such as the president was being overthrown and there was corruption in the process. Most people had left by the time police arrived. The owner of the property, Jake Barbour, had asked police to have everyone leave.
Four days later, on May 18, at another Knox County meeting, the vote was 25-3 in favor of removing Sprague, with two abstentions, according to County Vice Chair Cory Raymond.
The state GOP Committee later voted to reinstate Sprague, saying the process was not done properly.
Raymond and other Knox County party leaders were in attendance in the event they needed to testify on Rocknak’s behalf. Raymond is seeking the Maine House District 41 seat that represents Camden and Rockport.
This story appears through a media partnership with Midcoast Villager.