Democrat Edwin Soto Wins Re-Election In Phoenixville's North Ward

PHOENIXVILLE, PA — Incumbent Democrat Edwin Soto won re-election on Tuesday night, defeating challenging Republican Neil Herman to keep his North Ward seat.

Soto won by a tally of 713 to 398, according to unofficial results.

"Thank you to Phoenixiville community for honoring me with another term," Soto said in a statement Tuesday night. "I am inspired to serve our community every day and cannot wait for us to continue to do it together."

11:46 p.m.

Soto has defeated Herman, 713 to 398.

11:02 p.m.

With two of three precincts reporting, Soto holds a 380-240 lead over Herman.

10:02 p.m.

None of the North Ward's three precincts have yet reported in. One precinct in each of the East, West, and Middle Wards in the borough has reported.

9:07 p.m.

Five precincts have reported in of the 228 around Chester County. However, no results from Phoenixville are yet available.

8:40 p.m.

Live results of this race will be posted here as soon as they become available. Polls officially closed in Pennsylvania at 8 p.m., and a tally of votes is underway.

As of 8:40 p.m., no Chester County precincts had yet reported results.

Links to profiles of the candidates in the North Ward are included below:

• Incumbent Democrat Edwin Soto
• Challenging Republican Neil Herman

Soto, 39, who works in information technology, has been a councilman for multiple terms. 2019 marks the first election for Herman, 36, a local educator and coach.

Three other borough council seats were on the ballot on Tuesday, but none of them were contested.

All seats carry a four-year term.

Return to Patch for results as they come in. Subscribe to free news alerts for election results.

Herman ran on a low tax platform, and argued against the Steelpointe development, specifically.

"Tax increases have been a burden on us all. I will work to find other ways to balance the budget without tax increases and pledge to never vote for a tax raise," he said.

He added that Steelpointe should have never been zoned for residential use without expanding existing infrastructure. "Traffic is already a concern," he noted, "And this will make it a lot worse."

Soto points to the recently approved French Creek West as an example of positive, sustainable growth, citing the "community-minded planning" behind the project including 200 public parking spots, a new parking lot, and space for a future fire and emergency services operation.

"We can work with our community and developers to grow responsibly," he said.

Both candidates are big proponents of the proposed regional rail plan that would restore passenger service to the borough by extending SEPTA's existing Manayaunk/Norristown line.

Either Soto or Herman will join the Democrats on the ballot this year — Brian Weiss in the East Ward, Jonathan Ewald in the Middle Ward, and Brian C. Moore in the West Ward — to fill out half of the eight-person council.