EPHRATA, Pa. — Ralph Mowen, 78, has been mayor of Ephrata Borough for 30 years—and a Republican for exactly double that time.
“I’ve been a Republican since I could vote, starting at the age of 18,” he said.
At a borough council meeting on Aug. 7, he announced he had left the Republican Party and intended to serve the last two years of his term as an independent.
Mowen cited the reasons for his decision as his unease with the GOP’s direction from the national party to the local Republican Committee.
“I just wasn’t happy with the direction,” he said. “It was falling more and more right-wing and doing things that weren’t in my philosophy.”
Mowen said he never supported former President Donald Trump and did not vote for him as president in either 2016 or 2020. In fact, he didn’t vote for anyone during those years.
“Some people think that’s terrible, but I wasn’t going to vote for a Democrat and I couldn’t vote for [Trump],” he said.
Mowen added he didn’t understand the GOP response to the insurrection at the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021.
“When the riots at the Capitol happened and the majority of Republicans initially spoke out about it but changed their tune when Trump failed to attempt to stop it, I really was totally disappointed in the entire Republican Congress,” he wrote in a statement he read at the borough council meeting.
Mowen also disagreed with some extreme views espoused by Pennsylvania Republican Party candidates, such as 2022 gubernatorial candidate Doug Mastriano, who Mowen said “scared the bejesus out of me.”
The last straw was when Mowen said the Ephrata Area Republican Committee threatened to discredit him for not supporting their choice for a local election for magisterial district judge.
Mowen said the change, though, will not affect how he governs.
“I have done my best to represent the borough, all the people in the borough, not just the Republicans,” he said.
The Ephrata Area Republican Committee released a statement saying they were “disappointed” in Mowen’s decision, especially after the party had backed his candidacy in past elections.
Mowen said he plans to retire when his term ends in December 2025.
He offered some advice for the next generation of elected officials who may struggle with party choice: “Listen to your principles. Listen to your heart and do what you think is best for the community.”