Bill Hitchens discusses re-election for 8th term as Georgia House District 161

SAVANNAH, Ga. (WTOC) - Republican Bill Hitchens said he wants to keep representing Georgia House District 161, citing a law enforcement career spanning nearly five decades and his work on public safety funding.

Hitchens, the seven-term Republican incumbent, is a Marine Vietnam veteran, former Georgia State Patrol commissioner, and Georgia’s first homeland security director.

The district represents portions of Chatham and Effingham counties.

“My wife and I moved to Effingham County in 1969 because of their school system. We wanted our children to go to school there,” Hitchens said.

Hitchens said public service has been a calling for him.

“It’s just kind of been a calling to me... one of the things that I probably get the most enjoyment out of is helping people who are in dire straits,” Hitchens said.

Public safety funding role

Hitchens said he has applied his decades in uniform to his work in office, leading committees that fund law enforcement statewide.

“I’ve been chairman of the Homeland Security Committee, and I’m currently the chairman of the Public Safety of Appropriations, which funds all the state law enforcement agencies, some of the judiciary, the current general, the National Guard, the prison system. So I got a lot of background,” Hitchens said.

Affordability and data center

Hitchens said affordability is a top issue in District 161, pointing to tax rebates and income tax cuts. He urged patience and research on the proposed OpenAI data center.

“I’ve always been a research person. And I deal in facts. I don’t deal in Facebook... my job is to find out, listen, find out what the facts are,” Hitchens said.

Hitchens said he subscribes to being truthful and being a person of integrity. He faces Democratic challenger David Dillie on November 3.