The transgender-identifying Waterville City Councilor Rien Finch—formerly known as Hannah Heidt—resigned from her position without warning on Monday, claiming that President Donald Trump’s election left physically unable to breathe, requiring hospitalization.

“Mentally, I’ve taken a beating,” said Finch in an email reviewed by Central Maine. “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.”

The former Ward Six councilor reportedly first became sick following a six-week leave last summer to help her family in Michigan, after which she returned to work without a break, having expended all her vacation time.

Finch claimed that exhaustion from that ordeal, along with President Trump’s policies, ultimately resulted in a trip to the emergency room.

“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, getting oxygen after my pulse ox dropped,” she said.

In her resignation email, Finch discussed the importance of putting oneself first.

“Too often I think we pressure people to keep going, couching it in terms of service to others, or service to the community, and placing a high value on the impact to someone — or something — else,” she said.

“I do 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,” she added.

City Clerk Patti Dubois confirmed to Central Maine on Tuesday that the city will hold a special election in May or June to fill the recently vacated seat.

The city must hold an election within 30 days of the council’s voting to declare the vacancy, and Dubois believes that the vote will likely take place at its April 1st meeting.

Finch was active in left-wing politics long before she began on the city council in 2023, previously serving as chair of the Waterville Democratic City Committee, using the name Hannah Heidt.

According to a different Central Maine article, she also served as the fundraising chair for Central Maine Pride, Waterville’s LGBTQ group.