George William Gekas (April 14, 1930 – December 16, 2021) was an American politician from Pennsylvania who served as a Republican member of the U.S. House of Representatives for Pennsylvania's 17th congressional district from 1983 to 2003.

Early life and education

George Gekas was born in

Harrisburg, Pennsylvania Harrisburg is the capital city of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, United States, and the county seat of Dauphin County. With a population of 50,135 as of the 2021 census, Harrisburg is the 9th largest city and 15th largest municipality in Pe ...

, the son of Mary (Touloumes) and William Gekas. He graduated from William Penn High School in 1948. He received a B.A. degree from

Dickinson College , mottoeng = Freedom is made safe through character and learning , established = , type = Private liberal arts college , endowment = $645.5 million (2022) , president = J ...

in 1952 and a J.D. degree from

Dickinson School of Law Penn State Dickinson Law, formerly Dickinson School of Law, is a public law school in Carlisle, Pennsylvania. It is one of two separately accredited law schools of The Pennsylvania State University. According to Penn State Dickinson Law's 2019 ...

in 1958. He was a member of the fraternity Sigma Alpha Epsilon. He served in the United States Army from 1953 to 1955.

Career

He worked in a private law practice for two years and then served as assistant

district attorney In the United States, a district attorney (DA), county attorney, state's attorney, prosecuting attorney, commonwealth's attorney, or state attorney is the chief prosecutor and/or chief law enforcement officer representing a U.S. state in a l ...

for Dauphin County from 1960 to 1966.

Pennsylvania Legislature

In 1966, Gekas was elected to the

Pennsylvania House of Representatives The Pennsylvania House of Representatives is the lower house of the bicameral Pennsylvania General Assembly, the legislature of the U.S. state of Pennsylvania. There are 203 members, elected for two-year terms from single member districts. It ...

for the 103rd district. He served there until 1974, when he was upset by future Harrisburg mayor Steven Reed in the anti-

Watergate The Watergate scandal was a major political scandal in the United States involving the administration of President Richard Nixon from 1972 to 1974 that led to Nixon's resignation. The scandal stemmed from the Nixon administration's continual ...

Democratic landslide. Gekas served as a member of the

Pennsylvania State Senate The Pennsylvania State Senate is the upper house of the Pennsylvania General Assembly, the Pennsylvania state legislature. The State Senate meets in the State Capitol building in Harrisburg. Senators are elected for four year terms, staggered ev ...

for the 15th district from 1977 to 1982.

United States House of Representatives

After the 1980 census, Pennsylvania lost two congressional districts. The Republican-controlled legislature drew a new Harrisburg-based district that Gekas won in 1982, becoming the first Greek-American elected to Congress from Pennsylvania. Gekas was reelected nine more times. Gekas was one of the House managers in the impeachment trials of Alcee Hastings and President Bill Clinton.

2002 House Campaign

In a 2002 PoliticsPA feature story designating politicians with yearbook superlatives, he was named "Missing in Action." Pennsylvania lost two districts after the 2000 census and resulting redistricting. One of the districts that was eliminated was the Reading-based 6th District, represented by five-term moderate-to-conservative Democrat Tim Holden. The legislature split the 6th among three other districts, with the largest slice, including Holden's home in St. Clair, going to Gekas' 17th District. Holden ran in the 17th, even though it was 65% new to him (a small portion of the even more Republican 9th District had been shifted to the 17th). On election night, Holden defeated Gekas by almost 6,000 votes. Gekas was the only Republican incumbent placed in a district with a Democratic incumbent to be defeated for re-election in 2002.

Later life and death

After his electoral defeat in 2002, Gekas returned to Harrisburg, where he established a law practice.George Gekas' obituary
/ref> He continued to reside in Harrisburg until his death on December 16, 2021, at the age of 91.Ershadi, Julie, May 6, 2013, "George Gekas: Life After Congress"

References

External links

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, - , - , - {{DEFAULTSORT:Gekas, George 1930 births 2021 deaths 20th-century American lawyers 20th-century American politicians 21st-century American politicians American politicians of Greek descent County district attorneys in Pennsylvania Dickinson College alumni Republican Party members of the Pennsylvania House of Representatives Military personnel from Pennsylvania Pennsylvania lawyers Republican Party Pennsylvania state senators Politicians from Harrisburg, Pennsylvania Republican Party members of the United States House of Representatives from Pennsylvania United States Army soldiers House managers for the impeachment trial of Bill Clinton