Patrick T. "Pat" Hickey (born August 17, 1950) is an American

politician A politician is a person active in party politics, or a person holding or seeking an elected office in government. Politicians propose, support, reject and create laws that govern the land and by an extension of its people. Broadly speaking, a ...

. He formerly served as a

Republican Republican can refer to: Political ideology * An advocate of a republic, a type of government that is not a monarchy or dictatorship, and is usually associated with the rule of law. ** Republicanism, the ideology in support of republics or agains ...

member of the

Nevada Assembly The Nevada Assembly is the lower house of the Nevada Legislature, the state legislature (United States), state legislature of the U.S. state of Nevada, the upper house being the Nevada Senate. The body consists of 42 members, elected to two-year ...

representing Assembly Districts 25 and 27 in Washoe County. He served as Minority Floor Leader from 2013 to 2014.

Background and personal life

Hickey was born in

Carson City Carson City is an Independent city (United States), independent city and the capital of the U.S. state of Nevada. As of the 2020 United States Census, 2020 census, the population was 58,639, making it the List of cities in Nevada, sixth largest ...

, Nevada. As a young man he refused induction into the United States military during the

Vietnam War The Vietnam War (also known by #Names, other names) was a conflict in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia from 1 November 1955 to the fall of Saigon on 30 April 1975. It was the second of the Indochina Wars and was officially fought between North Vie ...

, dropped out of college, and travelled through

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...

as a "

hippie A hippie, also spelled hippy, especially in British English, is someone associated with the counterculture of the 1960s, originally a youth movement that began in the United States during the mid-1960s and spread to different countries around ...

." Soon after this he joined the

Unification Church of the United States The Unification Church of the United States is a religious movement in the United States of America. It began in the 1950s and 1960s when missionaries from Japan and South Korea were sent to the United States by the international Unification Churc ...

which at that time had only recently been founded. Hickey worked in the Unification Church as a state leader and regional spokesperson. In 1978 he was matched with his wife, Shin Myung-hee of

South Korea South Korea, officially the Republic of Korea (ROK), is a country in East Asia, constituting the southern part of the Korea, Korean Peninsula and sharing a Korean Demilitarized Zone, land border with North Korea. Its western border is formed ...

, by church founder

Sun Myung Moon Sun Myung Moon (; born Yong Myung Moon; 6 January 1920 – 3 September 2012) was a Korean religious leader, also known for his business ventures and support for conservative political causes. A messiah claimant, he was the founder of the Unif ...

. They were married in 1982 in a

Blessing ceremony of the Unification Church The Holy Marriage Blessing Ceremony is a large-scale wedding or marriage rededication ceremony sponsored by the Unification Church. It is given to married or engaged couples. Through it, members of the Unification Church believe that the couple ...

, held in

Madison Square Garden Madison Square Garden, colloquially known as The Garden or by its initials MSG, is a multi-purpose indoor arena in New York City. It is located in Midtown Manhattan between Seventh and Eighth avenues from 31st to 33rd Street, above Pennsylva ...

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

, along with over 2000 other couples. They now have four grown children. Hickey is now a member of the

Roman Catholic Church The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...

, in which he was originally raised. Hickey has a BS from Regents College of New York (now

Excelsior University Excelsior University is a private online university in Albany, New York. It offers undergraduate and graduate degrees and comprises three schools: the School of Undergraduate Studies, the School of Graduate Studies, and the School of Nursing. I ...

), and an MA in journalism from

University of Nevada, Reno The University of Nevada, Reno (Nevada, the University of Nevada, or UNR) is a public land-grant research university in Reno, Nevada. It is the state's flagship public university and primary land grant institution. It was founded on October 12, ...

. Hickey moved back to Nevada in the 1990s and worked as a reporter as well as founding a

house painting A house painter and decorator is a tradesman responsible for the painting and decorating of buildings, and is also known as a decorator or house painter.''The Modern Painter and Decorator'' volume 1 1921 Caxton The purpose of painting is to imp ...

company. Hickey served on the State Board of Education from 2016 to 2017. After this term ended, Hickey became the executive director of the Charter School Association of Nevada, lobbying on behalf of charter schools.

Political career

In 1996, Hickey was elected to the Nevada Assembly from District 27 after incumbent Thomas Batten declined to run for re-election. Hickey did not run again in 1998. In 2010, incumbent

Heidi Gansert Heidi Seevers Gansert (born 1963) is an American politician, businessperson, and engineer from the state of Nevada serving in the Nevada Senate, representing the 15th district since 2016. She served in the Nevada Assembly from 2004 through 201 ...

declined to run for re-election in District 25, and Hickey ran to replace her. Hickey served in the Assembly until 2016, when he resigned to join the State Board of Education. Hickey was Minority Floor Leader for the 2013 and 2014 sessions. In this capacity, Hickey advocated for conservative positions on

taxation A tax is a compulsory financial charge or some other type of levy imposed on a taxpayer (an individual or legal person, legal entity) by a governmental organization in order to fund government spending and various public expenditures (regiona ...

and

immigration Immigration is the international movement of people to a destination country of which they are not natives or where they do not possess citizenship in order to settle as permanent residents or naturalized citizens. Commuters, tourists, and ...

.Hickey back in Assembly after 14-year hiatus
''

Las Vegas Review-Journal The ''Las Vegas Review-Journal'' is a daily subscription newspaper published in Las Vegas, Nevada, since 1909. It is the largest circulating daily newspaper in Nevada and one of two daily newspapers in the Las Vegas area. The ''Review-Journal'' ...

'', January 17, 2010 Since leaving office Hickey has continued to engage in political advocacy, such as his opposition to requiring

charter schools A charter school is a school that receives government funding but operates independently of the established state school system in which it is located. It is independent in the sense that it operates according to the basic principle of autono ...

to pay the

prevailing wage In United States government contracting, a prevailing wage is defined as the hourly wage, usual benefits and overtime, paid to the majority of workers, laborers, and mechanics within a particular area. This is usually the union wage. Prevailing ...

on construction projects.

Elections

*2014 Hickey won the primary election with 4,253 votes (66.70%) against Rick Fineberg. He then won the general election with 16,897 votes (75.02%) against

Independent American Party Independent or Independents may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Artist groups * Independents (artist group), a group of modernist painters based in the New Hope, Pennsylvania, area of the United States during the early 1930s * Independ ...

candidate Niklas Putnam. *2012 Hickey was unopposed in both the primary and the general election. *2010 After Republican Assemblywoman

declined to run for re-election, Hickey won the Republican primary election with 4,166 votes (44.83%) against Orrin J.H. Johnson and four other candidates. Hickey then won the 2010 general election with 17,949 votes (64.70%) against Democratic nominee Robert "Tuna" Townsend. *1996 After Republican Assemblyman Thomas Batten declined to run for re-election, Hickey was unopposed for the 1996 Republican primary and won the 1996 general election with 3,611 votes (48.00%) against Democratic nominee Bonnie Schultz and two other candidates.

References

External links

Legislative biography
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Hickey, Patrick 1950 births Living people Republican Party members of the Nevada Assembly Politicians from Carson City, Nevada People from El Dorado County, California Politicians from Reno, Nevada Catholics from California Catholics from Nevada University of Nevada, Reno alumni Excelsior College alumni 21st-century American politicians 20th-century American politicians