As establishment Republicans suffer defeats across Michigan and the nation, Hillsdale and Michigan’s Fifth Congressional District demonstrate what happens when conservatives refuse to abandon their principles.

THE HILLSDALE CONSERVATIVES
Truth • Liberty • Local Stewardship
Hillsdale County, Michigan • Nov. 4th, 2026 • 2¢

Election night delivered a painful message to the Republican Party across much of America.

Democrats made significant gains, Republicans surrendered important offices, and the political establishment was once again left searching for explanations.

But here in Hillsdale County, Michigan, the story was considerably different.

Conservatives won.

Not by abandoning their principles, apologizing for their convictions, or promising to become more like the Democrats they oppose.

They won while openly standing for the principles that Republican voters have been demanding their representatives defend for years.

And while the Republican establishment searches for answers to its electoral failures, the answer may already be staring it in the face.

Hillsdale Voters Choose Conservative Leadership

The November 3 election delivered victories for Matthew Kniffin, Jill Hardway, Cindy Pratt, and Steve McDowell, setting the stage for what may become the most conservative Hillsdale City Council in at least four decades.

Their victories represent an opportunity to fundamentally change the direction of city government.

For years, Hillsdale residents have watched their local government become increasingly embroiled in controversies involving public participation, transparency, accountability, special assessments, and the exercise of government authority.

Citizens who questioned government decisions were frequently characterized as disruptive, negative, or unreasonable.

Those demanding that government follow its own rules were often treated as though their insistence on accountability was itself the problem.

Now Hillsdale has elected a council with an opportunity to demonstrate a different approach.

One where government answers to the people, rather than expecting the people to answer to government.

The election is over.

The opportunity to deliver on those principles has just begun.

Bob Flynn, Matthew Bentley, and the Choice Hillsdale Made

Hillsdale also elected Bob Flynn as its next mayor.

Flynn is a well-known and respected member of the community whose decades at WCSR made him one of the most recognizable voices in Hillsdale County.

His service to the community deserves recognition, regardless of political differences.

Flynn leans to the political left, particularly when compared with the conservative direction of the incoming council. But that does not make him an enemy of the community or incapable of being an effective mayor.

It does, however, make the relationship between the mayor and the newly elected council particularly important.

Hillsdale Press previously examined the differences between Flynn and his opponent, Matthew Bentley, in its July article, Bentley or Flynn?.

That examination focused not on personalities, but on governing philosophies.

When citizens opposed the M-99 road diet, Bentley stood against the proposal while Flynn supported it.

When residents challenged the city’s use of special assessments, Bentley sought to suspend the practice while Flynn favored preserving the option.

And when a citizen was denied the opportunity to speak under a public-comment requirement that had not yet been adopted, Bentley attempted to override the mayor’s ruling. Flynn voted against allowing the citizen to speak.

These were substantive differences about the relationship between government and the people it represents.

Bentley did not win the mayoral election, but his willingness to challenge government authority and defend citizens deserves recognition and he will retain his seat on council.

Flynn now has an opportunity to demonstrate that his respect for Hillsdale extends to respecting the governing philosophy voters have chosen for their City Council.

The mayor and council are both elected by the people.

Neither possesses a mandate to disregard the other.

A successful administration will require cooperation, but cooperation must not become an excuse for abandoning the principles upon which these council members were elected.

Bob Flynn can be a good mayor.

The question is whether he will work with the conservative council the people elected or become an obstacle to the changes those voters expect.

District 5 Conservatives Hold the Line

The conservative victories were not limited to Hillsdale City Hall.

Across Michigan’s Fifth Congressional District, principled conservative representation survived an election that proved devastating for Republicans elsewhere.

Jonathan Lindsey, and Joe Bellino, held their seats.

Their victories are particularly significant because these are not politicians who discovered conservative principles during an election year.

They have established records of standing for those convictions.

Steve Cara and Jim DeSana, in particular, have long been supporters of the Hillsdale Conservatives and have demonstrated through their legislative service that conservative principles are more than convenient campaign slogans.

They have been willing to challenge their own party when they believe its leadership has departed from those principles.

Jonathan Lindsey and Joe Bellino likewise represent a conservative legislative presence in a state where Republican leadership has repeatedly struggled to reconcile its campaign promises with its governing decisions.

The Fifth District has also demonstrated its willingness to challenge the Republican establishment internally.

As Hillsdale Press documented in District 5 Held the Line, Fifth District Chairman Ben Myers and district leadership repeatedly defended Hillsdale County’s conservative representation within the Michigan Republican Party, even when doing so meant confronting powerful figures within their own organization.

That willingness to stand on principle is not always politically convenient.

It is, however, precisely what voters should expect from their representatives.

And on November 3, the district’s conservative representation held its ground.

While Republicans elsewhere were losing, the conservatives who refused to compromise their convictions were still winning.

Perhaps there is a lesson in that.

The Republican Establishment’s Favorite Excuse

Every time Republicans suffer significant electoral defeats, the same familiar explanations begin circulating.

The candidates were too conservative.

The rhetoric was too strong.

The party needs to appeal to moderates.

Republicans need to compromise more.

And inevitably, the people who have spent years compromising conservative principles begin explaining why conservatism itself is responsible for their failures.

It’s a remarkable arrangement.

The establishment abandons the principles its voters elected it to defend, loses elections, and then blames the voters who insisted those principles mattered.

Meanwhile, conservatives in Hillsdale the Fifth District and beyond continue demonstrating that voters will support representatives who actually stand for something.

The Republican Party has spent far too long confusing party loyalty with principled representation.

They are not the same thing.

A Republican who supports expanding government authority simply because Republicans control that government is not defending limited government.

A Republican who excuses violations of the law because the responsible official belongs to the same political party is not defending constitutional government.

And a Republican who demands accountability from Democrats while shielding fellow Republicans from that same accountability is not defending conservative principles.

That is political tribalism.

Conservatism requires something considerably more difficult.

It requires holding your own side to the same standards you demand of your opponents.

Democrats Didn’t Win Because Republicans Were Too Conservative

Across the country, Democrats capitalized on public dissatisfaction and Republican failures.

The more radical elements of the Democratic Party continue advancing policies conservatives rightly oppose, particularly where government authority is expanded at the expense of individual liberty and constitutional limitations.

Yet the Republican establishment’s answer has too often been to move closer to the very policies it claims to oppose.

That raises an obvious question.

If voters want Democratic policies, why would they elect Republicans offering a watered-down version of the same thing?

And if voters want conservative government, why should they support Republicans who abandon conservative principles whenever those principles become politically inconvenient?

Republicans cannot expect to win elections simply by warning voters how terrible Democrats are.

They must offer something worth voting for and in Michigan, they failed miserably, again.

That means candidates who understand the Constitution, respect the limitations of their offices, defend individual liberties, and recognize that government exists to serve the people.

It also means demonstrating those convictions through actual decisions, particularly when standing on principle comes at a political cost.

The results in Hillsdale and the Fifth District and other conservative victories throughout the State do not mean every conservative candidate everywhere will win every election, although, they came remarkably close.

They do demonstrate something the Republican establishment has repeatedly insisted cannot be done.

Principled conservatives can win without surrendering their convictions and the establishment is dead.

Conservatism Is Not a Campaign Strategy

Perhaps the greatest misunderstanding within the modern Republican Party is the belief that conservatism is simply a collection of positions politicians adopt to win elections.

Lower taxes.

Smaller government.

Constitutional rights.

Government accountability.

Individual liberty.

Those ideas look wonderful on campaign literature.

But they become considerably less popular among establishment politicians when applying them requires challenging their friends, political allies, donors, or fellow officeholders.

Suddenly, demanding transparency becomes divisive.

Questioning government authority becomes disruptive.

Holding Republican officials accountable becomes disloyal.

And insisting that the law applies equally to everyone becomes an attack on the party.

That is precisely how political organizations lose the confidence of the people they claim to represent.

Conservatism is not supposed to be a marketing strategy.

It is a governing philosophy.

Its principles do not change depending on which political party controls the office, who occupies the chair, or whether the person violating those principles happens to be a friend.

Government either possesses lawful authority to act, or it does not.

Public officials either respect the rights of citizens, or they do not.

The law either applies equally, or it does not.

Those principles are not negotiable simply because enforcing them might make an election more difficult.

Hillsdale Now Has Something to Prove

The incoming Hillsdale City Council has an extraordinary opportunity.

Its members can demonstrate what happens when conservative principles are applied to the actual business of government.

They can demand transparency.

They can insist that public officials operate within their lawful authority.

They can defend the rights of citizens to question their government without intimidation or retaliation.

They can establish a culture in which accountability is expected rather than resisted.

And they can show that government does not become weaker when its authority is restrained by law.

It becomes legitimate.

But there is an important responsibility that accompanies these victories.

The newly elected council members must now live up to the expectations they have created.

The same standards applied to the previous council must apply to the new one.

Conservatives should never make the mistake of believing that electing the right people eliminates the need for public oversight.

Quite the opposite.

A government that truly respects constitutional principles should welcome scrutiny, particularly from the citizens who supported its election.

If Hillsdale’s new council delivers on those expectations, its example could extend well beyond the city limits.

The Answer Is Staring Republicans Right in the Face

Republican strategists will spend enormous amounts of money studying the November 3 election.

They will commission polls, hire consultants, analyze demographic shifts, and produce lengthy reports explaining why voters rejected Republican candidates.

They will debate messaging, advertising, fundraising, and whether their candidates appeared sufficiently moderate.

And undoubtedly, some will conclude that Republicans need to become less conservative.

Meanwhile, Hillsdale just elected what may be its most conservative City Council in 40 years.

The Fifth District’s principled conservative legislators held their seats.

Steve Cara and Jim DeSana continued demonstrating that standing up to the Republican establishment does not have to mean sacrificing electoral success.

Jonathan Lindsey and Joe Bellino likewise retained the confidence of their constituents.

These are not hypothetical examples.

They are election results.

The Republican establishment keeps searching for a formula to win elections while overlooking the candidates who continue winning by refusing to abandon the principles their voters expect them to defend.

Perhaps Republicans do not need another consultant.

Perhaps they need to start listening to the conservatives they have spent years trying to silence.

The answer isn’t to become more like the Democrats. It is to give voters a reason to elect Republicans in the first place.

Hillsdale and the Fifth District have offered their answer.

Now the Republican establishment must decide whether it is willing to learn from it.

Conservatives didn’t win here because they abandoned their principles. They won while standing on them.

And that should tell the Republican Party everything it needs to know.

in liberty,
Lance Lashaway