Helen Bentley (née Delich; November 28, 1923 – August 6, 2016) was an American politician who was a Republican member of the United States House of Representatives from Maryland from 1985 to 1995. Before entering politics, she had been a leading maritime reporter and journalist. Her parents were immigrant Serbians, and her father was a miner. When Bentley was eight years old, her father died of silicosis, a common miner's disease, and Bentley took a part-time job in a dress shop while her mother took in boarders to support the family. While at college, she worked on the successful U.S. Senate campaign of Nevada Democrat James G. Scrugham, and was appointed his Senate secretary. Later retitled The Port That Built a City and State, the series was produced by Bentley until 1965 and included then-novel live remotes from the decks of ships in Baltimore harbor during the early years of television.
During the Vietnam War, Bentley became aware of the congestion in the port of Saigon, and traveled there to report on the problems of supplying American troops. President Johnson became aware of her report, and subsequently improvements were made to port facilities in Cam Ranh Bay to relieve pressure on Saigon. she was defeated in the Republican primary by the more conservative Ellen Sauerbrey.
Post-Congress campaigns
When Bentley's successor in Congress, Bob Ehrlich, gave up his seat, she sought to retake the seat in 2002. Redistricting had made the district significantly more Democratic by adding a large slice of Baltimore proper, which Bentley had never represented. She lost to Baltimore County Executive Dutch Ruppersberger. She also served as a consultant for the Maryland Port Administration and the Port of Baltimore and served on the Board of Trustees for the Baltimore Museum of Industry and the Maritime Industries Academy High School.
Electoral record
{|class="wikitable collapsible"
! colspan="24" style="background:#ccf;"|Election results
|-
!Year
!Office
!Election
!
!Candidate
!Party
!Votes
!%
!
!Opponent
!Party
!Votes
!%
!
!Opponent
!Party
!Votes
!%
|-
|1980
|Representative for Maryland's 2nd District
|General
|
| |Helen Delich Bentley
| |Republican
| |89,961
| |42.6%
|
| |Clarence Long
| |Democratic
| |121,017
| |57.4%
|
|-
|1982
|Representative for Maryland's 2nd District
|General
|
| |Helen Delich Bentley
| |Republican
| |75,062
| |47.4%
|
| |Clarence Long
| |Democratic
| |83,318
| |52.6%
|
|-
|1984
|Representative for Maryland's 2nd District
|General
|
| |Helen Delich Bentley
| |Republican
| |111,517
| |51.4%
|
| |Clarence Long
| |Democratic
| |105,571
| |48.6%
|
| |N/A
| |Other
| |1
| |0.0%
|-
|1986
|Representative for Maryland's 2nd District
|General
|
| |Helen Delich Bentley
| |Republican
| |96,745
| |58.7%
|
| |Kathleen Kennedy Townsend
| |Democratic
| |68,200
| |41.3%
|
| |N/A
| |Write-in
| |1
| |0.0%
|-
|1988
|Representative for Maryland's 2nd District
|General
|
| |Helen Delich Bentley
| |Republican
| |157,956
| |71.5%
|
| |Joseph Bartenfelder
| |Democratic
| |63,114
| |28.5%
|
|-
|1990
|Representative for Maryland's 2nd District
|General
|
| |Helen Delich Bentley
| |Republican
| |115,398
| |74.4%
|
| |Ronald P. Bowers
| |Democratic
| |39,785
| |25.6%
|
|-
|1992
|Representative for Maryland's 2nd District
|General
|
| |Helen Delich Bentley
| |Republican
| |165,443
| |65.1%
|
| |Michael Hickey Jr.
| |Democratic
| |88,658
| |34.9%
|
|-
|1994
|Governor of Maryland
|Republican Primary
|
| |Helen Delich Bentley
| |Republican
| |89,821
| |37.9%
|
| |Ellen Sauerbrey
| |Republican
| |123,676
| |52.2%
|
| |William S. Shepard
| |Republican
| |23,505
| |9.9%
|-
|2002
|Representative for Maryland's 2nd District
|General
|
| |Helen Delich Bentley
| |Republican
| |88,954
| |45.7%
|
| |Dutch Ruppersberger
| |Democratic
| |105,718
| |54.3%
|
|}
Recognition
In 2004, Bentley was inducted into the International Maritime Hall of Fame.
Personal life and death
Bentley was married to William Roy Bentley, who died in 2003 from a stroke. The couple had no children.
She died of brain cancer in August 2016 at the age of 92, at her home in Timonium, Maryland.