STATESBORO — State Rep. Jan Tankersley, R-Brooklet, is seeking re-election for a fourth term to the House District 160 seat, which includes a large portion of Bulloch County and North Bryan.

A former Bulloch County commissioner, Tankersley was first elected to the General Assembly in 2010.

“I am honored to represent the people and communities of the 160th District and stand up for our values at the state Capitol,” she said in a statement. “Despite experiencing the worst recession in modern times, Georgia stayed the course, practiced fiscal responsibility and good stewardship of taxpayer dollars.”

Tankersley told the Statesboro Herald she wants to continue her work in seeing that the state maintain a balanced budget “and that revenues are spent on creating jobs.”

She also wants to see continued improvement in education, with measures to help with tuition and focus on skills and courses — math, science and engineering — that produce workers in fields where there is a big demand. Georgia is “ … also noted as having a progressive K-12 public school system, higher education opportunities and technical college degrees.

“Actions taken by the governor and the legislature are now paying dividends that will continue to make Georgia stronger, improve our educational system, and attract industry, tourism and economic development to our state,” she said.

Tankersley hopes to see her home, Bulloch County, continue growth in industrial areas.

“We are in a good position, with proximity to the ports,” she said.

It is not surprising that Georgia continues to be named the No. 1 place to do business in the United States, Tankersley said.

“House District 160 has many resources that present this area as a desirable location for businesses and industries, which includes our proximity to the ports,” she said.

She said one of the most important accomplishments she has made as a representative is heading the House Intragovernmental Coordination Committee as chairwoman. The committee handles all local legislation affecting individual city, county or consolidated governments.

Tankersley is also a member of the House Appropriations Committee, which is responsible for the annual state budget, the Agriculture and Consumer Affairs Committee and the Natural Resources and Environment Committee. She also serves as secretary of the House Rural Caucus and is a member of the Sportsmen’s Caucus as well as the Women’s Caucus.

Other areas in which she hopes to see improvement include transportation and raises for Georgia State Patrol troopers and other law enforcement.

“Georgia State Patrol hasn’t had a raise in eight years,” she said.

Tankersley said attention needs to be brought to transportation issues, such as Interstate 16 and the high number of crashes in that corridor — most notably the North Bryan wreck in April that killed five Georgia Southern University nursing students on their way to their last clinical assignment in Savannah.

“I-16 was never designed to handle that traffic,” she said. “There is a lot going on with the ports and that is increasing.”

More revenues need to be used on roads and bridges statewide, she added.

Other areas Tankersley hopes to see progress in include “keeping workforce developments up.” Keeping the area “visible and connected to the rest of the state” is very important to growth, she said.

“We have great jobs, great education, and we need to continue to promote these things,” she said.

Tankersley was listed as one of the Top 100 Most Influential Georgians by Georgia Trend magazine in 2010. She and her husband, Hughie, have two children and three grandchildren. They attend Trinity Presbyterian Church in Statesboro.

“I look forward to talking to and hearing from the people of our district during the course of this year’s campaign,” she said. “I strive to make myself available and accessible to the citizens I represent. I always want to hear of concerns, how I can help individuals and how the Legislature can help. I ask for your vote and continued support as we go into this new election year.”

The primary election is scheduled for May 24, and the general election will be held Nov. 8.