Ephrata mayor leaves Republican Party; cites Trump, far-right extremism as reasons for exit

• By Larry Alexander Special to LNP | LancasterOnline

This story is published in partnership with our sister newsroom LNP | LancasterOnline. For more coverage, click here. 

Ralph Mowen, mayor of Ephrata Borough for 30 years, announced last week that he’s left the GOP, switching his registration to independent after running and winning elections as a Republican since the 1970s.

Mowen, 78, broke the news publicly at the Aug. 7 Borough Council meeting, citing multiple reasons for the change, including former President Donald Trump’s false claims of election fraud, the Jan. 6 riot at the U.S. Capitol, and the Ephrata Area Republican Committee’s endorsement decision in a local constables race.

“I haven’t been real happy with the Republican Party for quite awhile, especially with (former President) Trump and his claims of a stolen election and his pushing that stuff,” he said during an interview ahead of the Aug. 7 meeting.

What made Mowen feel even more disenchanted, he said, is “the people who listen to Trump and follow his lead.”

“I kept thinking, ‘Something is wrong,’ ” he said. “This isn’t the Republican Party I grew up with.”

And when he says “grew up with,” Mowen means it. He said he registered as a Republican when he was first eligible to vote. For 44 years, he served as an elected GOP official.

Mowen isn’t the first public official in the county to leave the Republican Party and cite Trump as a reason. East Lampeter Township Supervisor Ethan Demme, a former county committee chairman, switched to independent in 2021 shortly after the Jan. 6 attack. Ann Womble, another former committee chair, left in June 2016 after Trump had claimed enough delegates to win the party’s presidential endorsement that year.

Ephrata Area Republican Committee issued a statement saying the committee was “disappointed” in Mowen’s decision, especially after the party had backed his candidacy in numerous elections over the years.

“Unfortunately, over the past several years the Mayor’s actions and behavior have demonstrated that he no longer shares the longstanding and conservative values of both the Republican Party or the greater Ephrata community,” according to a statement from the committee.

Mowen has two years left in office, but the committee wished him “the best in his retirement.”

“We look forward to finding a candidate for Mayor that will better represent the hard-working taxpayers of Ephrata Boro,” the committee said.

Mowen’s reasons

Explaining his decision to leave the party he spent most of his life serving, Mowen pointed to the hypocrisy expressed by fellow Republicans over Jan. 6. Too many, he said,  thought the riot that sought to stop Congress from certifying Joe Biden’s victor was “no big deal.”

“That Jan. 6 thing kind of tipped me over the edge,” Mowen said. “When so many Republicans initially said, ‘This is terrible’ then within days flipped to, ‘Ah, it was no big deal.’ ’’

He also spoke against Trump’s claims that, if reelected, he would likely pardon many of those now in jail who were convicted of federal offenses for their participation in the Jan. 6 attack.

“That’s just another nail in the coffin that made me think of changing. I cannot, in my conscience, remain affiliated with that far-right group of people. I just can’t do it.”

But it was local politics that served as the “final nail in the coffin,” Mowen said at last Monday’s council meeting. He referred to the Ephrata Republican committee’s endorsement of Torrey Landis over Eric Schmitt in the May primary for Ephrata’s magisterial district judge.

Mowen said the committee should have endorsed Schmitt, citing his law enforcement experience as a policeman.

Mowen also objected to the committee’s insistence that Republicans fall in line behind the endorsed candidate.

“Are you telling me I’m not allowed to have my own opinions? That I’ve got to be lock-stepped with the party? I’ve never been a lock-step Republican,” Mowen said.

He said he will continue to endorse Schmitt, who lost the Republican bid for district judge to Landis in the primary, but will remain on the Democratic side of the ballot this fall.

And at last Monday’s council meeting, Mowen challenged anyone on council who felt he should now resign.

“Ain’t gonna happen,” he said. “I have never looked at myself as a Republican mayor. I have always considered myself everyone’s mayor.”

In a previous conversation with a reporter, Mowen said he will serve everyone he can in the community, regardless of party.

“I’m the mayor of Ephrata,” he said. “If you have an issue and I can help, I will, regardless of your political affiliation. I am proud of what I’ve done for the community. I have tried my best to serve everybody, not just the Republicans.”

This story appeared first in The Ephrata Review.