George Gekas
| George Gekas | |
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| Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Pennsylvania's 17th district |
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In office January 3, 1983 – January 3, 2003 |
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| Preceded by | Allen E. Ertel |
| Succeeded by | Tim Holden |
| Member of the Pennsylvania Senate from the 15th district |
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In office January 3, 1977 – December 31, 1982 |
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| Preceded by | William B. Lentz |
| Succeeded by | John J. Shumaker |
| Member of the Pennsylvania House of Representatives from the 103rd district |
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In office January 7, 1969 – November 30, 1974 |
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| Preceded by | District created |
| Succeeded by | Stephen R. Reed |
| Member of the Pennsylvania House of Representatives from the Dauphin County district |
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In office January 2, 1967 – November 30, 1968 |
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| Personal details | |
| Born |
George William Gekas April 14, 1930 Harrisburg, Pennsylvania |
| Political party | Republican |
| Signature |  |
George William Gekas (born April 14, 1930) is a Republican politician from Pennsylvania. He represented the state's 17th Congressional district from 1983 to 2003, when he was unseated in a major upset.
George Gekas was born in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania in 1930 to Greek parents. He graduated from Dickinson College in 1952 where he was a member of the fraternity Sigma Alpha Epsilon. He later obtained a law degree in 1958 after a brief stint in the Army. After a short time in private practice, he served as assistant district attorney for Dauphin County from 1960 to 1966.
In 1966, Gekas was elected to the Pennsylvania House of Representatives representing Dauphin County. He served there until 1974, 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 and was reelected in 1980.
After the 1980 census, Pennsylvania lost two congressional districts due to very slow population growth. The Republican-controlled legislature drew a new, heavily Republican Harrisburg-based district designed for Gekas. He easily won the seat in 1982 and was reelected nine more times.
Gekas was one of the House's most conservative members, much to the liking of a district where Republicans dominated at every level of government. However, he alienated many Democrats and moderate Republicans in the Harrisburg area with his voting record, 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. However, the district was drawn in such a way that Gekas never faced any serious opposition during his first 10 campaigns, and he even ran unopposed in 1994. He was one of the House managers in the impeachment trials of Alcee Hastings and President Bill Clinton.
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