Eric Taylor appears poised to continue his work behind the bench in a new venue.
The district judge won a race for Berks County judge in Tuesday’s general election, besting his competitor, Berks County Assistant District Attorney Kathryn Lehman, by a slim margin of just over 1,000 votes.
Taylor, a Democrat, received 50,872 votes. Lehman, a Republican, received 49,793 votes.
All results are incomplete and unofficial. However, because no provisional ballots were cast in the race only military and overseas ballots remain to be counted.
Taylor, who has been serving the communities of West Reading and Wyomissing as a district judge for the past seven years, will fill a vacancy on the bench left open by the retirement of Judge Jeffrey Sprecher in July 2023.
Eric Taylor
His legal career has spanned nearly two decades, including more than 12 years as an assistant public defender in the Berks County Public Defender’s Office. During this time, he represented clients in criminal cases. He also handled other matters like violations of protection-from-abuse orders, child support violations and juvenile delinquency.
And before becoming a public defender, he served as a judicial law clerk and completed an internship with a federal magistrate judge.
Judges serve for 10 years, then must run for retention to remain on the bench. The position pays $227,411 annually.