Steve Hickey (born June 4, 1967, in

Chicago Chicago is the List of municipalities in Illinois, most populous city in the U.S. state of Illinois and in the Midwestern United States. With a population of 2,746,388, as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the List of Unite ...

Illinois Illinois ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern United States. It borders on Lake Michigan to its northeast, the Mississippi River to its west, and the Wabash River, Wabash and Ohio River, Ohio rivers to its ...

) 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 ...

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, United States. It was established in 1966. History Mid-America Nazarene College (MANC) was founded in 1966. In 1996 Mid-America Na ...

), 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 (abbreviated ''Aberd.'' in List of post-nominal letters (United Kingdom), post-nominals; ) is a public university, public research university in Aberdeen, Scotland. It was founded in 1495 when William Elphinstone, Bis ...

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

Career

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

Prairie Village, Kansas Prairie Village is a city in Johnson County, Kansas, United States, and located within 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 Coun ...

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

from 1991 to 1994. After moving to

Sioux Falls, South Dakota Sioux Falls ( ) is the List of cities in South Dakota, most populous city in the U.S. state of South Dakota and the List of United States cities by population, 117th-most populous city in the United States. It is the county seat of Minnehaha Coun ...

, he became founding pastor (1994-2015) of Church at the Gate. Since 2002, he has 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. He expressed his position in an open letter to lawmakers in 2014. He also has opposed proposals to enable

euthanasia Euthanasia (from : + ) is the practice of intentionally ending life to eliminate pain and suffering. Different countries have different Legality of euthanasia, euthanasia laws. The British House of Lords Select committee (United Kingdom), se ...

, as some states have authorized. In 2013 Hickey resisted attempts to legalize

cage fighting Mixed martial arts (MMA) is a full-contact fighting sport based on striking and grappling; incorporating techniques from various combat sports from around the world. In the early 20th century, various inter-stylistic contests took place t ...

in South Dakota by establishing a state athletic commission. He said that "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. 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 was the 44th president of the United States from 2009 to 2017. A member of the Democratic Party, he was the first African American president in American history. O ...

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.

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 Party (United States), Republican member of the South Dakota Senate from January 11, 2011 to January 2019. Peters served con ...

ran for

South Dakota Senate The South Dakota 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 :''99th Legislature (2025)' ...

and Democratic Representative

Richard Engels Richard Engels was a Democratic Party (United States), Democratic member of the South Dakota House of Representatives. He represented the 9th district from 2003 to 2004, and again from 2007 to 2010. Engels was a Legislative Research Council Exe ...

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, organization or other type of entity, and commonly determines how that entity is to be governed. When these pri ...

candidate Charles Drews. *2012 Hickey and incumbent Republican Representative Bob Deelstra 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 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 was 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 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 retains the sta ...

Scotland Scotland is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It contains nearly one-third of the United Kingdom's land area, consisting of the northern part of the island of Great Britain and more than 790 adjac ...

Books and publications

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

References

External links

Official page
at the

South Dakota Legislature The South Dakota 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 has 7 ...

Campaign site
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Hickey, Steve 1967 births Living people American Protestant ministers and 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 21st-century members of the South Dakota Legislature