George Gekas is a Republican politician from Pennsylvania. He served in the Pennsylvania House of Representatives from 1966 through 1974,representing Harrisburg, when he was upset by future Harrisburg mayor Steven Reed in the anti-Watergate Democratic landslide.
Undaunted by his unexpected defeat,Gekas was elected to the Pennsylvania State Senate in 1976. Re-elected to the State Senate in 1980, Gekas was elected to Congress in 1982 when Democratic Congressman Allen Ertel, faced with a negative redistricting, chose to run for Governor of Pennsylvania against incumbent Governor Dick Thornburgh, losing narrowly.
Gekas was then re-elected to Congress for ten consecutive terms, never facing significant opposition. Compiling one of the most conservative voting records in the United States, Gekas though was alienating many Democrats and moderate Republicans in the Harrisburg area with his voting record, his lack of zeal in bringing federal funds back home, and his leadership in seeking to make individual bankruptcy status more difficult and less useful to obtain.
When the 2002 Congressional redistricting placed Democratic Northeast Pennsylvania Congressman Tim Holden in Gekas's district, Gekas was stunned when Holden ran rather than retire and key elements of his own base embraced Holden. Gekas had never really had to run a real campaign in his previous ten elections, while Holden was battle-tested from years of representing a somewhat conservative district. Holden upset Gekas in 2002, winning a district that had been crafted to re-elect Gekas. Gekas was the only Republican incumbent placed in a district with a Democratic incumbent to be defeated for re-election in 2002.
External links
Last updated: 06-02-2005 12:46:24
