GEORGE W. GEKAS

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP86B00337R000200320008-0
• Release Decision: RIFPUB
• Original Classification: K
• Document Page Count: 2
• Document Creation Date: December 21, 2016
• Document Release Date: August 27, 2008
• Sequence Number: 8
• Content Type: REPORT

Approved For Release 2008/08/27: CIA-RDP86B00337R000200320008-0
17 George W. Gekas (R)
Of Harrisburg - Elected 1982
Born: April 14, 1930, Harrisburg, Pa.
Education: Dickinson College, B.A. 1952; Dickinson
School of Law, LL.B., J.D. 1958.
Occupation: Lawyer.
Family: Wife, Evangeline Charas.
Religion: Greek Orthodox.
Military Career. Army, 1953-55.
Political Career. Pa. House, 1967-75; Pa. Senate, 1977-
83.
Capitol Office: 1008 Longworth Bldg. 20515; 225-4315.
The Path to Washington: Former pros-
ecutor Gekas fashioned a successful 14-year
state legislative career by stressing his hard-
line stand against crime. He managed capital
punishment legislation on the state House floor
and wrote a tough mandatory sentencing bill
that was signed into law in 1982.
As chairman of the Pennsylvania Senate's
Judiciary Committee, Gekas earned a reputa-
tion as a skillful legislator. He also won some
publicity outside the state when he helped craft
a proposed revision in the insanity defense for
criminal trials, presented it before the Criminal
Justice Subcommittee of U.S. House Judiciary
Committee and drew praise as a "pragmatist"
from the panel's chairman, Michigan Democrat
John Conyers Jr. The Gekas approach allows
jurors to render a verdict of "guilty but men-
tally ill."
A member of the small but influential
Greek community in Harrisburg, Gekas took
the traditional path to political success in cen-
tral Pennsylvania. He went to a local college
and law school, became an assistant district
attorney and aimed for the state Capitol, where
he was Harrisburg's hometown legislator.
Gekas encountered remarkably few obsta-
cles on his path to Congress in 1982. After
weeks of hinting that he might run, he officially
entered the race March 5 - ten days after
Democratic incumbent Allen Ertel announced
for governor and three days after the Republi-
can-controlled Legislature approved new dis-
trict boundaries that favored election of a Re-
publican.
Gekas won the nomination handily, out-
pacing florist Brian J. McCarthy. The 27-year-
old McCarthy was endorsed by the Republican
committee in Lycoming County (Williams-
port), the second most populous county in the
district. But Gekas had the support of the GOP
organization in Dauphin County (Harrisburg),
which was more important.
In the general election, Gekas trounced
Dauphin County Commissioner Larry J.
Hochendoner. The 33-year-old Democrat had
run unsuccessfully for several local offices;
Gekas defeated him by 10,000 votes in a state
Senate election in 1976. He was appointed to,
his county post when a commissioner left to
become Harrisburg's mayor.
Hochendoner's sole asset was Ertel's sup-
port. The two appeared together frequently.
and Ertel, highly popular in the district, taped
a television commercial for him. But Ertel's
coattails were no match for Gekas's financial
edge. Gekas outraised and outspent Hoch.
endoner by about 3-to-1 and offered ads on
television and radio almost daily from mid-
September to Election Day. The Republican
candidate's name appeared on buses and bill-
boards throughout the district.
Gekas had the active backing of Republi.
can U.S. Sen. John Heinz, who was coasting to
re-election. Heinz signed a letter in support of
Gekas that was sent to all Republican house.
holds in Dauphin County, and the two candi-
dates shared volunteer help in part of the
district.
Regarded as a personable campaigner.
Gekas spent several of his evenings in local
diners, waiting on tables in Williamsport, work-
ing at a cash register in Sunbury and serving
pizza in Harrisburg. His principal television
spot showed him eating lunch with local resi-
dents at a counter.
Gekas' other ads stressed crime and the
economy, but issues played little role in the
campaign. Hochendoner had no success trying
to set up a referendum on President Reagan's
economic policy. At a rally on World Food Day
at which both candidates appeared.
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Pennsylvania 17
This elongated district, which follows
the Susquehanna River, amply displays the
GOP affinities of central Pennsylvania.
Map makers made the 17th even more Re-
publican in 1982 by joining rural Perry and
Snyder counties to it.
Dauphin County (Harrisburg) has al-
most half the people in the 17th. Lycoming
County (Williamsport) is second, with
slightly more than a fourth of the popula-
tion.
The large state government complex
and manufacturing sector in Harrisburg
provide enough Democratic votes to make
the party competitive for local and state
legislative offices. The state capital, which
lost a fifth of its population over the last
decade as whites moved to the suburbs, now
is 40 percent black - a fact that enhances
Democratic strength there. In 1982 Republi-
cans could not keep Dauphin County from
lining up behind Democrat Allen Ertel in
his campaign for governor against Republi-
can Richard L. Thornburgh.
The presence of the state government
prevents life from being as placid in Dau-
phin County as it is elsewhere in central
Pennsylvania. Aside from constant political
flare-ups, the county has had to contend
Central - Harrisburg;
Williamsport
with two other disasters in recent years: the
1972 flood, which put the governor's man-
sion and much of Harrisburg under water,
and the 1979 accident at the Three Mile
Island nuclear plant.
Up the river from Harrisburg, the hills
and farms turn out predictably large Re-
publican majorities, creating a normal GOP
majority districtwide. Snyder and Union
were among the three Pennsylvania coun-
ties to go for Barry Goldwater in 1964, and,
in 1982, Snyder gave GOP Sen. John Heinz
almost four times the vote of his Democratic
challenger. Democrats can be found in coal-
mining Northumberland County and in
Williamsport, which manufactures aircraft
engines, publishes Grit magazine and hosts
the Little League World Series.
Hershey, famed for its chocolate plant,
grand old hotel and amusement park, brings
out solid Republican votes, as do suburban
Harrisburg towns such as Paxton Township
and Lower Swatara.
Population: 515,900. White 476,806
(92%), Black 34.261 (7%). Spanish origin
4,637 0%). 18 and over 376,440 (73%), 65
and over 6:3,411 (12%). Median age: 31.
Hochendoner tried to talk about unemploy-
ment, but Gekas steered the debate back to
world hunger.
Gekas did talk about nuclear safety at
frequent points during the campaign; the Three
Committees
Mile Island nuclear power plant is in the 17th
District, and Gekas said he would press to
hasten the cleanup of Unit 2 of the reactor,
which had been shut down since the March
1979 accident.
District Vote For President
Judiciary (10th of 11 Republicans)
1980 1976
Civil and Constitutional Rights: Criminal Justice.
D 58.724 (32%) D 75,275 (40%)
417 (61%) R 108,300 (58%)
R 110
Select Aging (20th of 22 Republicans)
.
1 11
412 ( 6%)
Housing and Consumer Interests.
1982 General
,
Campaign Finance
Receipts Expend-
Receipts from PACs itures
George W. Gekas (R) 84,291 (58%)
1982
Larry Hochendoner (D) 61,974 (42%)
Gekas(R) $193,237 $91,885 (48%) $171,918
1982 Primary
Hochendoner(D) $59,893 $30,825 (51%) $ 59,590
George W. Gekas (R) 25,773 (60%)
Brian McCarthy (R) 14,625 (34%)
Key Vote
Max Lampenfeld Jr. (R) 2,528 ( 6%)
Adopt nuclear freeze (1983)
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