Brett Geymann

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Brett Frank Geymann​


Louisiana State Representative
for District 35 (Calcasieu
and Beauregard parishes)​
In office
January 2004​ – January 11, 2016​
Preceded by Vic Stelly
Succeeded by Stephen Dwight
Incumbent
Assumed office 
January 19, 2021
Preceded by Stephen Dwight

Born December 8, 1961​
Lake Charles, Louisiana, USA​
Political party Republican
Spouse(s) Kimberly Ann Geymann (married 1986)​
Children Tyler Andrew Geymann

Nicholas Brett "Nick" Geymann
Kathy E. Geymann ​

Alma mater South Beauregard High School

McNeese State University

Occupation Businessman
Religion Christian

Brett Frank Geymann (born December 8, 1961) is a businessman from his native Lake Charles, Louisiana, who is a Republican former state representative for District 35 in Calcasieu and Beauregard parishes.​ He first frilled the seat from 2004 to 2016. Then after the 2002 elections, Geymann's House successor, Moderate Republican Stephen Dwight, resigned upon his election as district attorney for Calcasieu Parish. Geymann was the only candidate to file in the February 6 special election to choose Dwight's successor. The special election was hence cancelled, and Geymann will return to the House on January 19, 2021.[1]

Background

As a child, Geymann moved with his family to neighboring Beauregard Parish and graduated from South Beauregard High School.[2] Geymann holds a Bachelor of Science degree in finance from McNeese State University in Lake Charles and owns a small business.[3] He and his wife, Kimberly Ann Geymann (born 1965), married in 1986 and have three children, Tyler Andrew Geymann (born 1987), a business owner, Nicholas Brett "Nick" Geymann (born 1991), a financial advisor, and Kathy E. "Katy" Geymann (born 1994), a teacher at East Beauregard High School.[4]

Political life

In 2003, the conservative Geymann was elected to the state House to succeed the retiring Republican-turned-Independent Vic Stelly, author of the Stelly Plan, a since overturned sales tax/state income tax transfer arrangement. Geymann initially won the House seat with nearly 54 percent of the vote over two Democratic challengers.[5]

Geymann was reelected to his second full state House term in 2007.[6] He sat on the House Appropriations and Budget committees as well as the Joint Legislative Committee on the Budget.[7] He also served on the Commission on Streamlining Government, headed by his then state Senate colleague Jack Donahue and including Geymann's frequent legislative ally, Jim Morris of north Caddo Parish, a Republican-turned-Independent, who left the legislature in 2020.[8]

Legislative record

In 2008, Geymann introduced House Resolution No. 7 to request that the state Department of Wildlife and Fisheries study the issue of escaped crawfish.[9] The accumulation of excess water often forces crawfish from the ponds where they are being cultivated into neighboring ditches. Geymann compared the problem to that of meandering livestock in drier areas. The resolution called upon the department to report to the legislature on the extent of the problem and to propose any necessary laws.[9]

In the spring of 2011, Geymann, part of the "Fiscal Hawks" contingent in the legislature, introduced House Resolution 27, a measure intended to halt the state from using one-time money, such as cash from the sale of prisons, to underwrite ongoing government operations. The practice is common in state government though long opposed by most conservatives. The change, known as the Geymann Rule, requires a two-thirds vote to pass state budget bills.[10]

Geymann was rated in 2010, 2013, and 2014 as 100 percent favorable by the conservative Louisiana Family Forum; the organization scored him 88 percent in 2011. Louisiana Right to Life rated him 100 percent for each year that he was a legislator. The Louisiana Association of Educators rated him 75 and 83 percent favorable in 2013 and 2014, respectively. The Louisiana Association of Business and Industry, founded in 1976 by Ed Steimel, ranked Geymann 61 percent cumulatively in 2012 and 2013. In 2012, the National Federation of Independent Business scored him 83 percent.[11]

In 2014, Geymann co-sponsored the requirement that abortion providers have hospital admitting privileges near their clinics; the bill was approved by the full House, 88–5. In 2014, he did not vote on the matter of extending the time for implementation of the Common Core State Standards Initiative but subsequently emerged as the leading legislative critic of Common Core and the policies of departing state Education Superintendent John White, whose Common Core stance was supported by the Louisiana Association of Business and Industry.[4] Geymann voted to prohibit the transportation of dogs in the beds of pick-up trucks while traveling on interstate highways; the measure passed the House, 53–34.[12]

Geymann voted against the requirement that companies must give notice when they engage in hydraulic fracking; the measure failed, 19–73. He voted against the repeal of the anti-sodomy laws; the repeal failed, 22–67. He did not vote on the issue of authorizing surrogacy contracts. He did not vote as well on the matter of reducing the penalties for the possession of marijuana, which passed the House, 54–38. He did not vote on establishing lifetime concealed carry gun permits but supported concealed-carry privileges in restaurants that sell alcoholic beverages. He voted against making information about permit holders a matter of public record. In 2010, he voted to permit handguns for protection in churches. He voted in 2013 against an increase in judicial pay and opposed the removal of the mandatory retirement age for judges.[12]

In 2012, Geymann voted to ban the use of telephones while driving; the measure passed the House, 68–29. He voted to reduce the number of hours that polling locations remain open; Louisiana has traditionally had 14-hour polling days. He voted for the requirement for drug testing of certain welfare recipients, which passed the House, 65 to 26. He opposed changes in the teacher tenure law. In 2011, Geymann voted against a permanent tax on cigarettes and supported the establishment of a commission to consider ways to remove the state income tax. He voted against the anti-bullying measure which proponents claimed would address the problem of harassment by pupils against each other in public schools; the measure failed 43–54. He did not vote on providing parole eligibility to elderly inmates.[12]

Geymann was term-limited and ineligible to have sought another term in the nonpartisan blanket primary held on for October 24, 2015. He was succeeded in the House by the unopposed Republican candidate, Stephen Dwight, of Lake Charles.[13]

Two failed political comeback attempts

Geymann was an unsuccessful candidate for Louisiana's 3rd congressional district seat in the primary election held on November 8, 2016, in conjunction with the presidential election between Donald Trump and Hillary Rodham Clinton. The position was then held by Republican Charles Boustany, a retired Lafayette physician, who ran instead, unsuccessfully, for the United States Senate for the seat vacated by Republican David Vitter. Geymann's principal opponents were Moderate Republican Scott Angelle, a former member of the Louisiana Public Service Commission from Breaux Bridge and Clay Higgins, a conservative and a Crime Stoppers reporter known for his attacks on the criminal element. Another primary candidate was the Lafayette attorney and former United States Ambassador to Timor-Leste Grover Rees, III. In the December runoff contest, Higgins handily defeated Angelle to claim the House seat and sailed to an easy reelection in 2018 despite a bevy of Democrat opponents.[14]

Geymann failed in a second bid for a political comeback In the nonpartisan blanket primary held on October 12, 2019. In the race for the District 30 seat in the state Senate, Republican Mike Reese polled 14,625 votes (51 percent) and won the seat outright over Geymann, who received 6,296 votes (22 percent), and a departing Democratic state Representative, James K. Armes, III, who drew 5,973 votes (21 percent). A fourth candidate, Republican Renee Hoffpauir-Klann, held the remaining 1,935 votes (7 percent).[15]

Geymann is an occasional radio talk show substitute host for the Lafayette-based The Moon Griffon Show.​ Griffon actively campaigned for Geymann in the 2019 state Senate election.

References

  1. John Guidroz (January 11, 2021). Geymann unopposed for old seat. The Lake Charles American Press. Retrieved on January 14, 2021.
  2. Representative Brett F. Geymann (Republican). Louisiana House of Representatives (April 13, 2011). Retrieved on January 14, 2021.
  3. Rep. Brett Geymann. dnet.congress.org. Retrieved on July 7, 2011; no longer on-line.
  4. 4.0 4.1 Brett Geymann announces bid for Senate District 30. The Beauregard Daily News (June 28, 2019). Retrieved on February 2, 2020.
  5. Louisiana Secretary of State, Election Returns, October 4, 2003.
  6. Membership in the Louisiana House of Representatives, 1812-2024. Louisiana House of Representatives. Retrieved on February 2, 2020.
  7. Brett Geymann's Biography. Project Vote Smart. Retrieved on January 14, 2021.
  8. Commission on Streamlining Government. legis.state.la.us. Retrieved on July 7, 2011.
  9. 9.0 9.1 Crawfish on the loose in Legislature. Lafourche Parish Daily Comet (April 5, 2008). Retrieved on July 7, 2011; no longer on-line.
  10. Jan Moller (May 23, 2011). House rules change complicates budget picture. The New Orleans Times-Picayune. Retrieved on July 7, 2011; no longer on-line.
  11. Brett Geymann's Ratings and Endorsements. Project Vote Smart. Retrieved on February 2, 2020.
  12. 12.0 12.1 12.2 Brett Geymann's Voting Records. Project Vote Smart (February 3, 2020).
  13. Decision 2015: The end of candidate qualifying. JMC Enterprises (September 10, 2015). Retrieved on September 12, 2015; no longer on-line.
  14. Louisiana Secretary of State, Election Returns, December 2018.
  15. Louisiana Secretary of State, Election Returns, October 12, 2019.

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