Steve Hickey (born June 4, 1967, in

Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...

Illinois Illinois ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern United States. Its largest metropolitan areas include the Chicago metropolitan area, and the Metro East section, of Greater St. Louis. Other smaller metropolita ...

) is an American pastor and politician who served three terms in the

South Dakota House of Representatives The South Dakota House of Representatives is the lower house of the South Dakota Legislature. It consists of 70 members, two from each legislative district. Two of the state's 35 legislative districts, Districts 26 and 28, are each subdivided int ...

representing District 9 (including part of Sioux Falls, with most of the territory to the west of that city), from 2011 to September 2015.

Education

Hickey earned a BA from Mid-America Nazarene College (now

MidAmerica Nazarene University MidAmerica Nazarene University (MNU) is a private Nazarene (evangelical Christian) university in Olathe, Kansas in the Kansas City metropolitan area. It was established in 1966. History Mid-America Nazarene College (MANC) was founded in 1966. ...

), and a

M.Div. For graduate-level theological institutions, the Master of Divinity (MDiv, ''magister divinitatis'' in Latin) is the first professional degree of the pastoral profession in North America. It is the most common academic degree in seminaries and di ...

from

North Park Theological Seminary North Park Theological Seminary is a seminary located in the North Park neighborhood of Chicago, Illinois. It is the sole graduate theological school of the Evangelical Covenant Church. History In 1891, the school was founded by the Evangelical ...

, and a Masters in Theological Ethics .ThE.from the University of Aberdeen. He has a Ph.D. from the

University of Aberdeen The University of Aberdeen ( sco, University o' 'Aiberdeen; abbreviated as ''Aberd.'' in List of post-nominal letters (United Kingdom), post-nominals; gd, Oilthigh Obar Dheathain) is a public university, public research university in Aberdeen, Sc ...

focusing on Leo Tolstoy's interpretation of the Sermon on the Mount.

Career

Hickey was ordained by th
Evangelical Covenant Church of America
He served as a youth pastor a
Hillcrest Covenant Church
in

Prairie Village, Kansas Prairie Village is a city in Johnson County, Kansas, United States. It is part of the Kansas City Metropolitan Area. As of the 2020 census, the population of the city was 22,957. History After the successful development of the Country Cl ...

from 1986 to 1991. He served as youth pastor and later as interim pastor a
Edgebook Covenant Church
in

Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...

from 1991 to 1994. After a move to

Sioux Falls, South Dakota Sioux Falls () is the most populous city in the U.S. state of South Dakota and the 130th-most populous city in the United States. It is the county seat of Minnehaha County and also extends into Lincoln County to the south, which continues up ...

, he became founding pastor (1994-2015) o
Church at the Gate
in that city. Since 2002 he served as chaplain for the Minnehaha County Sheriff's Office and the Sioux Falls Police Department. Hickey became an activist statewide in supporting two ballot measures to ban abortion in South Dakota, 2008 and 2009. Becoming increasingly active in politics, he joined the Republican Party and ran in 2010 for one of the two seats in District 9 in the state legislature He was elected to three successive terms in the state legislature from District 9, which includes part of Sioux Falls, and much more territory to the west of the city. During his tenure, he twice tried to gain repeal of use of the death penalty in South Dakota, saying that the state should be consistently pro-life. (201
2014
. He expressed his position i
An Open Letter To Lawmakers
in 2014. He also ha
opposed proposals to enable death with dignity and euthanasia
as some states have authorized. He argues that killing is not compassion. In 2013 Hickey resisted attempts to legalize

cage fighting Mixed martial arts (MMA), sometimes referred to as cage fighting, no holds barred (NHB), and ultimate fighting, and originally referred to as Vale Tudo is a full-contact combat sport based on strike (attack), striking, grappling and ground f ...

in South Dakota by establishing a state athletic commission. He said tha
"cage fighting is perhaps the child porn of sports
, resulting in strong opposition from the sport's enthusiasts nationwide and promoters and fighters in the industry. He met with UFC fighter Shayna Bazler and expressed his regret for using an analogy that far overshadowed his point. In 2014–2016, Hickey joined with Steve Hildebrand, also of Sioux Falls and a former campaign manager for

Barack Obama Barack Hussein Obama II ( ; born August 4, 1961) is an American politician who served as the 44th president of the United States from 2009 to 2017. A member of the Democratic Party, Obama was the first African-American president of the U ...

in 2008, to form 'South Dakotans for Responsible Lending.' Together they successfully led a statewide ballot initiative to cap the interest rate on payday and title loans at 36%; this change effectively has driven payday lenders out of the state.

Books and publications

Hickey has written several books, includin
Obtainable Expectations: Timely Exposition of the Sermon on the Mount
(2012), an
Obtainable Destiny: Timely Exposition of the Apostolic Letters
2004, Creation House Press) an
The Fall Away Factor
(2013) an
Momentum: God’s Ever-Increasing Kingdom
(2009 Creation House Press).

Elections

*2010 When incumbent Republican Representative

Deb Peters Deb M. Peters (born October 11, 1974 in Sioux Falls, South Dakota) is an American politician who served as a Republican member of the South Dakota Senate from January 11, 2011 to January 2019. Peters served consecutively in the South Dakota Legi ...

ran for

South Dakota Senate The Senate is the upper house of the South Dakota Legislature. It consists of 35 members, one representing each legislative district; it meets at the South Dakota State Capitol in Pierre. Composition :''92nd Legislature (2019)'' Officers Li ...

and Democratic Representative

Richard Engels Richard Engels was a Democratic member of the South Dakota House of Representatives The South Dakota House of Representatives is the lower house of the South Dakota Legislature. It consists of 70 members, two from each legislative district. T ...

left the Legislature, leaving both District 9 seats open, Hickey ran in the June 8, 2010 Republican Primary; in the five-way November 2, 2010 General election, Hickey took the first seat with 3,769 votes (26.82%) and fellow Republican nominee Bob Deelstra took the second seat, ahead of Democratic nominees Trudi Hatch and Mark Anderson, and

Constitution A constitution is the aggregate of fundamental principles or established precedents that constitute the legal basis of a polity, organisation or other type of Legal entity, entity and commonly determine how that entity is to be governed. When ...

candidate Charles Drews. *2012 Hickey and incumbent Republican Representative

Bob Deelstra Bob, BOB, or B.O.B. may refer to: Places *Mount Bob, New York, United States * Bob Island, Palmer Archipelago, Antarctica People, fictional characters, and named animals *Bob (given name), a list of people and fictional characters *Bob (surname ...

were unopposed for the June 5, 2012 Republican Primary; in the four-way November 6, 2012 General election Hickey took the first seat with 4,188 votes (27.51%) and Democratic nominee

Paula Hawks Paula Hawks (born September 11, 1975) is an American politician and a former Democratic member of the South Dakota House of Representatives representing District 9 from January 11, 2013 to January 10, 2017. Hawks grew up on a farm near Flandrea ...

took the second seat ahead of incumbent Republican Representative Deelstra and returning 2010 Democratic nominee Mark Anderson.

Personal life

Hickey married Kristen Kay Olson on November 19, 1988. They have three grown children; Caleb Edward, Thomas David, and Katherine Lynn Hickey. In 2013 he wa
diagnosed with Idiopathic Pulmonary Fibrosis
he retired from active pastoral ministry and politics. Hickey moved with his wife and daughter to

Old Aberdeen Old Aberdeen is part of the city of Aberdeen in Scotland. Old Aberdeen was originally a separate burgh, which was erected into a burgh of barony on 26 December 1489. It was incorporated into adjacent Aberdeen by Act of Parliament in 1891. It ret ...

Scotland Scotland (, ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a border with England to the southeast and is otherwise surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean to the ...

References

External links

Official page
at the

South Dakota Legislature The South Dakota State Legislature is the legislative branch of the government of South Dakota. It is a bicameral legislative body, consisting of the South Dakota Senate, which has 35 members, and the South Dakota House of Representatives, which ...

Campaign site
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Hickey, Steve 1967 births Living people American clergy Republican Party members of the South Dakota House of Representatives MidAmerica Nazarene University alumni North Park Theological Seminary alumni Politicians from Chicago Politicians from Sioux Falls, South Dakota