For First Time in 30 Years, County Resident Likely Headed to State House

Flatonia’s Geesaman Gets Election Night Call of Congratulations from Governor, Who Had Endorsed Opponent

A Fayette County resident could take a seat in the State House of Representatives for the first time in nearly 30 years. Dennis Geesaman of Flatonia beat incumbent Stan Kitzman in the Republican Primary with 57 percent of the vote. In deep-red District 85, Geesaman will likely prevail in the General Election.

The last Fayette County citizen to serve in the State Legislature was Robert Saunders of La Grange, who served in the State House from 19811997.

Geesaman overcame some staggering odds to win the Republican nomination. His opponent, Kitzman, had the endorsements of President Donald Trump and Governor Greg Abbott. Abbott even appeared with Kitzman at a campaign event in La Grange two weeks ago. In addition, Kitzman had the support of many well-funded political action committees (PACs), who poured perhaps a million dollars or more into this campaign.

“What I think really swung the race is that I’ve gotten out to every corner of the district and met with people, going to coffee clubs everywhere and any little Republican Party meeting, starting way back in May,” Geesaman said in an interview with the Record on Wednesday.

“My opponent did not see it coming, because he wasn’t connected to the grassroots,” he added.

Geesaman said he spent election night with his wife and campaign manager, and he was pleasantly surprised to receive a congratulatory phone call from Governor Abbott around 10 p.m. that night.

Geesaman acknowledged the negative tone of the campaign. He said that after a poll came out about three or four weeks before the election showing an extremely close race, Kitzman began attacking him, especially through campaign mailers and text messages.

“There were pictures of me standing next to George Soros,” he said. “Things about people crossing the border and saying I support illegal immigrants. It was totally over the top and turned people off. Some people probably said, ‘This is a pox on both houses’ and didn’t vote.”

Geesaman said he personally knocked on approximately 5,000 doors across the district during his campaign. And between him and his campaign team, he said they knocked on about 10,000 doors.

“The two biggest things I heard knocking on doors was property taxes, which is a symptom of out-of-control spending,” Geesaman said. “And they’re worried about what I say is the loss of American civilization.”

Geesaman said he believes the State can reduce property taxes on homesteads “down to zero” by using state revenue surpluses.

“Any excess tax revenue should go back to the taxpayer,” Geesaman said. “So I think we can bring the homestead tax down to zero quickly, and I think fairly easily. Anything beyond that will take some more work.”

On his second point, Geesaman said voters in the district are concerned about the rise of radical Islam and groups like the Muslim Brotherhood.

“That’s where the governor has done a good job,” Geesaman said. “We had the 10th (proposition) on the Republican ballot to ban Sharia law. I’ve been advocating for and I will continue advocating for a special session to codify all of that.”

Geesaman’s victory was one of several across the state that ended contrary to President Trump’s endorsement. The Record asked Geesaman about his opponent’s Presidential endorsement and how he was able to overcome it in District 85.

“That was a purely transactional endorsement,” Geesaman said. “Lt. Governor Dan Patrick was President Trump’s campaign manager in Texas. The whole hierarchy in Texas and their goal was to get school choice passed. So they got a promise from President Trump that he would endorse anybody that voted for school choice. So all the Republicans voted for this, all but two, I think, voted for school choice. They got an endorsement. That was before I even entered the race.

“(President Trump) doesn’t know what’s going on down here at the grassroots level in House District 85,” Geesaman added. “He’s playing three-dimensional chess at international level. I’m MAGA all the way. I had a lot of people ask, ‘Well, isn’t (Kitzman) Trump-endorsed?’ But once you explain it to them, they totally understand.”