Matthew H. Bentley (Mayor of Hillsdale, Michigan, candidate 2025)
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Matthew H. Bentley ran in a special election to the Mayor of Hillsdale in Michigan. He was on the ballot in the special general election on November 4, 2025.
Bentley completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey in 2025. Click here to read the survey answers.
[1]Biography
Matthew H. Bentley provided the following biographical information via Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey on October 6, 2025:
- Birth place: Eaton Rapids, Michigan
- High school: Hillsdale High School
- Bachelor's: University of Michigan, 1991
- Gender: Male
- Religion: Christian
- Prior offices held:
- Councilman (2024-Prsnt)
- Incumbent officeholder: No
- Campaign slogan: Roads, roads, roads
- Campaign endorsements
- Campaign X
- Campaign YouTube
- Campaign YouTube video
Elections
General election
Special general election for Mayor of Hillsdale
Matthew H. Bentley and Scott M. Sessions ran in the special general election for Mayor of Hillsdale on November 4, 2025.
Candidate | ||
Matthew H. Bentley (Nonpartisan)  | ||
| Scott M. Sessions (Nonpartisan) | ||
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| = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
| If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey. | ||||
Nonpartisan primary election
Special nonpartisan primary for Mayor of Hillsdale
Matthew H. Bentley, Cathy Kelemen, Scott M. Sessions, and Robert L. Socha ran in the special primary for Mayor of Hillsdale on August 5, 2025.
Candidate | ||
| Matthew H. Bentley (Nonpartisan) | ||
| Cathy Kelemen (Nonpartisan) | ||
| Scott M. Sessions (Nonpartisan) | ||
| Robert L. Socha (Nonpartisan) | ||
| ||||
| = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
| If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey. | ||||
Election results
Endorsements
Ballotpedia did not identify endorsements for Bentley in this election.
Campaign themes
Ballotpedia survey responses
See also: Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection
Matthew H. Bentley completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey in 2025. The survey questions appear in bold and are followed by Bentley's responses.
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I returned to Hillsdale in 2020 as a refugee from Ann Arbor’s twin tyrannies of covid and bike lanes. I will fight to stop such evils from threatening this fair city.
As an admirer of our esteemed Hillsdale College and an enjoyer of many of its offerings, I hope to play a conciliatory role between Town and Gown.Roads, roads, roads
- No Road Diet
- Reform or eliminate Special Assessments
- Fix the roads!
Accountability for Council and senior staff
- Clarity about the distinct roles of Council and senior staff;
- Better communication among Council, staff, and the people;
- Improved technology for council meetings and major boards and commission meetings, including audio, visual, and transcriptions.
- Maintenance of our infrastructure and the preservation of the historic structures of Hillsdale.
Reform of governance structures to provide clarity, transparency, accountability, and responsiveness for the residents of Hillsdale.
Its uniqueness begins with its geography: the southernmost watershed boundary of our pleasant peninsula; its elevation dividing the county into six watersheds, the source of six rivers (the Garden of Eden was the font of four) including the St Joe, trickling its way from Baw Beese Lake.
And we got the tri-state notch to boot.
Demographically, Hillsdale was unique from its early nineteenth century settlement, being the terminus for the rail line for over a decade. Six different confessions built churches at the time, including a Catholic parish, St Anthony’s. Hillsdale was pluralistic from its founding. Undoubtedly there remain families with roots stretching back that far.
Hillsdale: It’s the people.
Finally, of course, Hillsdale is blessed to be the home of Hillsdale College, the best college in North America. Its politics department in particular, with its Graduate School of Statesmanship, is singular in its influence. The town and its college have been conjoined since those early times. From their beginning, both have made outsized contributions to the Republican Party and the Union.
Note: Ballotpedia reserves the right to edit Candidate Connection survey responses. Any edits made by Ballotpedia will be clearly marked with [brackets] for the public. If the candidate disagrees with an edit, he or she may request the full removal of the survey response from Ballotpedia.org. Ballotpedia does not edit or correct typographical errors unless the candidate's campaign requests it.
See also
2025 Elections
External links
Footnotes
