Harry Geisinger

Even when state Rep. Harry Geisinger couldn't persuade his Republican colleagues to support a bill, they respected his tenacity.
Whether promoting horse racing or working with other Republican stalwarts to end Democratic dominance, the Roswell lawmaker never gave up on an issue he believed in.
When he served from 1969 to 1974, he was one of fewer than 30 Republicans in the state House. By the time he won re-election in 2004, his party had a solid majority in the Legislature and in state government.
"He was an activist and highly involved in the state and county Republican Party," said Mack Mattingly, who in 1980 became the first Republican elected to the U.S. Senate from Georgia since Reconstruction. "It was the same thing that pushed all of us back then: wanting to create a two-party system in Georgia," Mattingly said. "Harry did it all with a smile. He was a good man and a good friend."
Along the way, Geisinger kept up his dogged crusade for water rights, pari-mutuel wagering and horse racing, solar energy and economic development. "Harry had a long view of his work," said state Rep. Joe Wilkinson, R-Atlanta. "He knew you had to start somewhere to get the discussion started. He wanted action, but he also wanted fair and open discussion. He had one heck of a great run."
Geisinger died May 1 of leukemia at the age of 82. Read the news obituary