District 4 State Sen. Billy Hickman, first elected in the summer 2020 in a special election to complete an unexpired term but also elected that fall to a full term, qualified Monday to seek re-election for a second full two-year term in the Georgia Senate.

What he signed up and paid the qualifying fee for is actually the May 24 Republican primary. As of 2 p.m. Tuesday, Hickman alone was listed on the Georgia Secretary of State’s Office database as a candidate for the District 4 Senate seat. No other Republican challengers were listed, nor had any Democrats signed up to seek their party’s nomination for the seat in the May 24 Democratic Party primary. Primary winners will progress to the Nov. 8 general election

"I ran for Senate on the promise to use my business experience and conservative values to put the hardworking folks in our district first – ahead of Atlanta and the special interests," Hickman said in a media release. "In my first term I fought to lower taxes, cut red tape, improve public safety, protect innocent life, increase access to rural broadband, and give parents a voice in their child's education.

“We need more unapologetic conservatives in the Legislature to stand up for our values and that is why I am running for re-election,” he said.

When Hickman was first elected and until this year, District 4 included Bulloch, Candler Effingham and Evans counties, and parts of Emanuel and Tattnall counties.

Since the state legislative district maps were recently redrawn, District 4 will now include all of Bulloch, Candler, Effingham and Evans counties and a small portion of Chatham County.

Hickman, from Statesboro, is a certified public accountant licensed and certified by the AICPA, or American Institute of CPAs, in financial forensics. He graduated from Georgia Southern (now University) and joined the firm of Dabbs, Hickman, Hill and Cannon LLP in 1974.
Among his many community and professional association roles, Hickman has previously served as president of the Downtown Rotary Club of Statesboro and the Southeast Georgia Society of Public Accountants and chaired the Board of Trustees of the Georgia Southern University Foundation.

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

In 2020, Hickman was one of four special election candidates for vacancy left by the death that April of Sen. Jack Hill of Reidsville, who represented the district for 29 years. With redistricting, Hill’s home county, Tattnall, will now be part of Senate District 19.