Matt Bevin Bio
Matthew Griswold Bevin is an American businessman and politician who served as the 62nd Governor of Kentucky from 2015 to 2019. A member of the Republican Party, he built a career in financial management before entering public life and is currently the chief executive officer of Neuronetrix Solutions, LLC. Beyond politics, Bevin is also known for leading the family-owned Bevin Brothers Manufacturing Company, one of the last remaining American bell foundries.
Born in Denver, Colorado, in 1967 and raised in Shelburne, New Hampshire, Bevin served four years in the United States Army before transitioning to the private sector. He mounted a high-profile 2014 primary challenge to Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, won the Kentucky governorship a year later, and later lost his re-election bid in 2019 to Democrat Andy Beshear. He is a father of nine children and has remained active in business, civic, and family matters since leaving office.
Early Life and Background
Matthew Griswold Bevin was born on January 9, 1967, in Denver, Colorado, and was the second of six children of Avery and Louise Bevin. He grew up in the rural community of Shelburne, New Hampshire, where his father worked in a wood mill and his mother worked part-time in a hospital admissions department. The family raised livestock and grew much of their own food, instilling in Bevin a strong work ethic from a young age. By age six, he was selling seeds to neighbors, and he later became deeply involved in 4-H, serving as president of the local and county chapters and as a member of the state teen council.
Bevin attended a small Christian school before enrolling at Gould Academy, a private high school in Bethel, Maine, for his final two years. He paid his way through financial aid, work as a campus dishwasher, and various summer jobs. After graduation, Bevin attended Washington and Lee University in Lexington, Virginia, on a partial Reserve Officers’ Training Corps (ROTC) scholarship. He studied abroad in Japan, became fluent in Japanese, and earned a Bachelor of Arts in East Asian Studies in 1989.
Path to US Politics
Following college, Bevin took an eight-week, 3,800-mile bicycle trip from Oregon to Florida before enlisting in the U.S. Army. He was commissioned as a second lieutenant and completed officer training at Fort Knox in Kentucky, later remarking that the region reminded him of his New Hampshire upbringing. Assigned to the 25th Field Artillery Regiment at Fort Polk in Louisiana, he also trained at Fort Sill in Oklahoma, where he completed 40 credit hours of Central Michigan University coursework. He rose to the rank of captain and earned several military honors before joining the Army Reserve in 1993 and leaving the Individual Ready Reserve in 2003.
After leaving active military duty, Bevin worked as a financial consultant for SEI Investments in Pennsylvania and Boston, then served as a vice president with Putnam Investments. In 1999, he joined National Asset Management and moved to Kentucky, later founding Integrity Asset Management. By 2011, Bevin had sold that firm and taken over leadership of Bevin Brothers Manufacturing Company, the last American firm exclusively manufacturing bells. His growing public profile and conservative political views eventually led him to challenge Mitch McConnell in the 2014 Republican Senate primary, marking his formal entry into US politics.
Matt Bevin Career
Early Career (1989–2013)
Bevin’s professional career began with his military service after graduating from Washington and Lee University in 1989. Over four years in the U.S. Army, he advanced to the rank of captain and earned the Army Achievement Medal, the National Defense Service Medal, the Army Service Ribbon, the Parachutist Badge, and the Army Commendation Medal with one Oak Leaf Cluster. These formative years shaped his leadership style and his appreciation for disciplined public service.
After leaving active duty, Bevin built a successful career in financial management. He worked for SEI Investments and Putnam Investments before moving to Kentucky in 1999 to join National Asset Management. He later founded Integrity Asset Management, which he sold in 2011 after growing it to manage more than one billion dollars in investments. In 2008, he also assumed leadership of the family business, Bevin Brothers Manufacturing Company, a Connecticut-based bell foundry dating to 1832. A May 2012 fire destroyed the factory, but Bevin rebuilt the operation, famously declaring, “I’m a Bevin, and Bevins make bells.”
2014 Senate Primary Breakthrough
On July 24, 2013, Bevin announced a primary challenge to five-term incumbent Mitch McConnell, the Senate Minority Leader, arguing that McConnell was not conservative enough. The race drew national attention and put Bevin on the political map. Despite a substantial fundraising gap and limited name recognition, he forced McConnell to spend heavily in defense.
Bevin ultimately lost the 2014 primary by nearly 25 percentage points, but the campaign established him as a vocal conservative voice in Kentucky. He used the statewide platform to build donor networks and political relationships that would later support his gubernatorial bid.
Governor of Kentucky Era (2015–2019)
Bevin announced his candidacy for governor in 2015 and won a crowded four-way Republican primary by just 83 votes. In the general election, he defeated Democratic Attorney General Jack Conway to become the 62nd Governor of Kentucky. He was sworn in on December 8, 2015, and quickly pursued a conservative legislative agenda.
During his tenure, Bevin signed right-to-work legislation, laws restricting abortion, a religious-expression bill for public schools, and a 2019 law removing the permit requirement to carry concealed firearms. He also cut Medicaid dental and vision coverage for hundreds of thousands of Kentuckians, declared 2016 and 2017 the Year of the Bible, and issued executive orders restricting Syrian refugee resettlement. His administration was marked by tense battles with the teachers’ unions over pension reform and education funding.
Throughout his term, Bevin consistently ranked among the least popular governors in the United States. He lost his 2019 re-election bid to Attorney General Andy Beshear in a close race and conceded on November 14, 2019, after requesting a recount. In his final month in office, Bevin issued pardons and commutations for 428 people, including individuals convicted of murder, manslaughter, and rape, drawing bipartisan condemnation and prompting calls for a federal investigation.
Notable Events and Milestones
One of the most defining moments of Bevin’s career came during the 2019 Kentucky Derby, when he was booed loudly while presenting the trophy following the controversial disqualification of Maximum Security. His final-month pardons of violent offenders, including a man convicted of raping a nine-year-old, generated national outrage and led the Kentucky Senate’s Republican leadership to request a federal probe. Despite his electoral defeat, Bevin remained a polarizing figure in American conservative politics.
Matt Bevin Career Wins
Matt Bevin’s most significant political victory came in 2015, when he won the Kentucky governorship after capturing a competitive Republican primary by a narrow margin. He was also a successful entrepreneur, having founded and sold Integrity Asset Management and having restored the historic Bevin Brothers Manufacturing Company after a devastating 2012 fire. Earlier in life, he rose to the rank of captain in the U.S. Army and earned multiple military decorations.
Governor of Kentucky Highlights
Bevin’s gubernatorial tenure was highlighted by several signature legislative achievements. He made Kentucky the 27th right-to-work state, signed a concealed-carry law eliminating permit requirements, and enacted multiple bills restricting abortion access. He also signed religious-expression protections, Blue Lives Matter hate-crime legislation, and a Bible literacy bill for public schools. Despite his policy wins, his low approval ratings ultimately cost him re-election in 2019.
Other Wins and Achievements
Bevin rebuilt his family’s 19th-century bell manufacturing business after a catastrophic 2012 fire, earning state grants and public support to restore operations. In November 2022, he was named chief executive officer of Neuronetrix Solutions, LLC, returning to a senior executive role. He also built Integrity Asset Management into a firm handling more than one billion dollars in investments before selling it in 2011.
Matt Bevin Family
Family Background and Heritage
Bevin is the son of Avery and Louise Bevin and grew up as the second of six children in rural New Hampshire. His family has deep historical roots in American manufacturing; the Bevin Brothers Manufacturing Company was founded in 1832 by his great-great-great-grandfather, and Bevin took over leadership of the firm in the late 2000s. His upbringing on a small farm, combined with his involvement in 4-H, helped shape his lifelong emphasis on self-reliance and civic engagement.
Personal Life
Bevin married Glenna Bevin in 1996 after meeting her on a blind date while stationed at Fort Polk. Glenna had a young daughter, Brittiney, from a previous marriage; the Bevins later had five additional children and adopted four more from Ethiopia in 2012. In 2003, 17-year-old Brittiney was killed in a car accident, and the family established Brittiney’s Wish, a non-profit organization funding mission trips for high school students in her memory. In May 2023, Glenna Bevin filed for divorce, and the divorce was finalized in March 2025.