Eck picked to lead county GOP
WEST CHESTER » With just over 100 days until the 2020 November election and the future of the White House, Congress and the state Legislature at stake, the Chester County Republican Committee elected a new chairman to lead it into that crucial battle.
Dr. Gordon Eck, the former county coroner and a social conservative, was elected unanimously on Monday along with a team of officers. Eck of Honey Brook will serve a term that expires in June 2022. He was not opposed in the race.
The change in chairman brings to a close the leadership of Rick Loughery, who chose not to seek re-election after having served since 2019. Loughery addressed the committee members who had assembled virtually to cast their votes, thanking them for their work and wishing them luck.
Eck’s selection comes in a year that is fraught with election obstacles. In addition to the COVID-19 virus pandemic which delayed the April primary election until last month, county Republicans have seen their once-dominant position in party politics vanish, with Democratic Party registrations taking a lead for the first time in more than 150 years.
Upon his election to the position, Eck said he was “extremely honored and humbled” to have won the committee’s support, according to a press release from the GOP committee, and signaled that he intended to bring the cultural fight over subjects like abortion rights and school choice to the fore in his tenure, although he did not use those words specifically.
“The Republican Party was founded on the principle of human dignity,” he said. “This dignity, as the Founding Fathers recognized and recorded in the Declaration of Independence, is endowed by our Creator and cannot legitimately be conferred or restricted by human government. Inherent in humanity and human dignity are fundamental rights, such as the sanctity of life, equal justice and opportunity, and personal freedom, including economic freedom and freedom of conscience.
“These rights should guide our approach to issues such as educational choice, access to affordable, quality healthcare, criminal justice reform, racial reconciliation, ending the exploitation of women, and coming alongside those in need,” Eck said.
The party chose Eck as part of its normal course of business, coming within 60 days of the primary election. The election, however, came later in the year than in the past because of the delay in the Primary Election because of the coronavirus outbreak. The timing put Eck at something of a disadvantage, those familiar with the party said.
But in addition, the choice of Eck was surprising because of his relative lack of experience in running a political party. He was not particularly politically active until 2013, when he ran for the position of coroner for the first time and has had little experience in the large scale fundraising necessary to fuel the party’s campaign for candidates at the local and state level.
Two sources said that Eck was well-liked in party circles, but lacked the background in politics as would otherwise be expected in a chairman. “He’s more of an amateur political observer,” said one longtime party member who spoke on the condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to discuss internal committee operations. “It’s not clear how effective he’s going to be. But we will see.”
Another person said that whoever had control of the party this year faced the uphill battle of the “absolute acceleration” of voters abandoning the Republican Party in the county and switching their registrations to Democrats or Independents. “They are shifting away from the GOP, and (President Donald) Trump. I am not surprised,” that Loughery decided not to have to fight that trend in this presidential year, the source said.
As of this week, Democratic registration in the county led that of Republicans by 150,046 to 148,569, with 61,722 independents or other party voters rounding out the total of 360,387. In the last presidential election in 2016, there were 155,519 Republican to 137,166 Democrats on Election Day — meaning that the GOP has lost 5,473 voters in the years since, while the county’s Democrats have added 11,403 voters to their rolls. Even the number of independent voters has decreased, ever so slightly from 62,038 to 61,722, as more and more residents register as Democrats.
Eck said he was ready to begin work on the campaign.
“I am eager and excited for the opportunity,” he said in an interview Tuesday. “I enjoy a challenge. As I told the committee members last night, this requires a team effort. No one person can do everything. But I have surrounded myself with good quality people, and we will work together.”
As for Loughery’s departure, both GOP sources who spoke about his tenure said his decision was largely expected.
“The writing was on the wall,” said one. “He knew he was not well-liked enough to continue on as chairman.”
“I think he checked out a while ago,” the other said, noting that he had been putting his energies into his position as chairman of the Young Republicans National Federation. “He just let things erode. I don’t know if he was even focused on the organization.”
Loughery did not return a call for comment on Tuesday.
Eck, 67, has been a county resident since 1965. He attended West Chester’s B. Reed Henderson High School before graduating from Ursinus College and the Philadelphia College of Osteopathic Medicine. Eck is retired from his 36-year practice of family and geriatric medicine but has since graduated from Liberty Theological Seminary with a master’s in Biblical Studies as well as a doctorate in Ministry from Southern Evangelical Seminary.
Eck currently serves as the medical director for a juvenile detention center in Morgantown.
“We live in troubling times,” Eck told his fellow committee members on Monday, according to a press release. “But, as Robert Woodson reminds us, America is not defined by its failures, but by its promises. The Republican Party has historically fought for these promises against fierce opposition. As chairman, it will be my honor to continue leading that fight until those promises become a reality for all.”