Last Updated: Aug 15, 2022
Earlier this year, PAMED sat down with Representative Torren Ecker (R – Adams, Cumberland) to learn more about his legislation on restrictive covenants and the drama surrounding his first election. This sit-down interview was conducted as a part of PAMED’s Behind the Scenes Series.
Representative Torren Ecker always had an interest in running for public office. After graduating from George Mason University, completing law school in Michigan, and practicing law in South Central Pennsylvania for about 8 years, he was finally approached
with the opportunity to do so in 2018. It wasn’t an easy start to his career in politics, however.
“I actually won my first primary election by one vote,” Ecker recalls. “I went to bed down one vote. I woke up the next morning to a phone call from the county commissioner saying that an absentee ballot had been missed and that things
were tied. A couple of days later, they recanvassed everything. A provisional ballot actually put me over the top to win the election.”
An attorney by trade, Representative Ecker acknowledges that elected officials can’t be an expert on every subject. That’s why, he says, it’s important for constituents to build a working relationship with their elected officials.
“Whether or not I support the issue, I like to know the facts and make an educated, objective decision,” Ecker says. “That’s why it’s so important that groups, like PAMED, to educate us and help us make decisions that affect
them.”
In the current legislation session, Representative Ecker has introduced House Bill 681 which prohibits the enforcement of non-competes in health care practitioner employment agreements. In his years of practicing law, Representative Ecker had dealt with
the enforcement of contracts before. This particular piece of legislation, however, came directly from an interaction with a constituent.
“I had a physician in my district that was done dirty by a non-compete agreement. He was a highly specialized physician, and his non-compete left some patients without access to the care that they needed,” Ecker said. “It’s about
physicians, but it’s also about their patients.”
Outside of the Capitol, Representative Ecker focuses on spending time with his wife and two kids. He coaches his daughter’s soccer team, spends time outdoors, and enjoys staying active.
To learn more about Representative Torren Ecker, visit his website www.RepEcker.com.