| Stefan Roots | |
| Office1: | Mayor of Chester, Pennsylvania |
| Term Start1: | January 1, 2024 |
| Predecessor1: | Thaddeus Kirkland |
| Office2: | Member of the Chester City Council from the At-Large District |
| Term Start2: | January 3, 2022 |
| Term End2: | December 31, 2023 |
| Predecessor2: | William Jacobs |
| Party: | Democrat |
| Birth Place: | Chester, Pennsylvania, U.S. |
| Alma Mater: | Villanova University |
| Occupation: | Electrical engineer, politician, blogger |
Stefan Roots is an American politician currently serving as the Democratic mayor of Chester, Pennsylvania, since January 3, 2024. He defeated the incumbent Thaddeus Kirkland in the May 2023 Democratic mayoral primary and Anita J. Littleton in the November 2023 general election. He previously served as a member of the Chester City Council from 2022 to 2024.
Roots was born in Chester to a 15-year old single mother.[1] He attended Archmere Academy in Wilmington, Delaware and graduated from Chester High School. He received a Bachelor's degree in electrical engineering from Villanova University.[2]
He worked in engineering, marketing and sales roles for Philadelphia Gas Works, IBM, MCI and the Delaware County Daily Times. He also worked in industrial operations for Sunoco, Praxair and DELCORA.[2]
He served as a director on several boards including the Delaware County Interactive Gaming Revenue Authority,[3] the Delaware County Historical Society[2] and the Chester Education Foundation.[4]
In 2006, he published a monthly paper Chester Spotlight which in 2010 evolved into the blog Chester Matters.[2] In 2012, he published a book titled Toxic Man - the Melvin Wade Story.[2] In 2016, he published a podcast, "Dirty Water Dude", which focused on practical ways to obtain clean drinking water.[5] In 2017, he published a book titled "How to Buy a Water Filter".[6]
Roots defeated William Jacobs in the Chester city council Democratic primary in May 2021.[7] In January 2022, Roots was elected to Chester City Council and served as Director of Public Property and Recreation.[2]
In May 2023, Roots defeated the two term incumbent mayor Thaddeus Kirkland in the Chester Democratic mayoral primary election[8] [9] by nearly twice the vote.[10] There was no Republican opponent, and Roots defeated independent candidate Anita J. Littleton[11] in the November 2023 general election.[12] He was sworn into office on January 1, 2024.[13]
He is married to Marceline Andrews and has five children and five grandchildren.[14]
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