Sen. Billy Hickman, who lives in Statesboro and represents District 4 in the Georgia Senate, qualified Monday for re-election. Candidates for legislative seats qualify at the Capitol in Atlanta, where he completed paperwork and paid the candidate fee for the May 21 Republican primary.

“I just want to announce that we qualified again to run for re-election,” Hickman said in a brief video he texted. “I will continue to work hard for the great people of Georgia, and I will work hard for the people of Georgia instead of special-interest groups.

“My primary focus is always going to be health care, public safety and education, and I promise you I will not be satisfied until all the children in the state of Georgia are reading on grade level. Thank you and God bless you, and God bless the great state of Georgia,” he said.

Hickman was first elected in a special election in 2020 to represent District 4, which now, after some redistricting, includes Bulloch, Candler, Effingham and Evans counties and a part of Chatham County.

In the Senate he chairs the Higher Education Committee and serves as vice chair of the Economic Development & Tourism Committee, secretary of the Senate Finance Committee, and as a member of the Appropriations Committee.

A certified public accountant, he is licensed and certified by the AICPA in financial forensics. He graduated from Georgia Southern University and joined the firm that is now Dabbs, Hickman, Hill and Cannon LLP in 1974.

He has previously served as president of the Downtown Rotary Club of Statesboro and the Southeast Georgia Society of Public Accountants and chairman of Georgia Southern University Foundation trustees.

He and his wife, Jo Ann, have two sons and five grandsons. They are active members of First Baptist Church of Statesboro.