With 10 candidates between the two parties, it was the largest of the 2017 primary races in Warren County.
Six Phillipsburg council candidates will continue their campaigns until November. The incumbent is not among them.
Voters on Tuesday set up a general election showdown as they whittled down a large pool of primary candidates for three seats on town council. The 10 contenders between the two parties was the largest of Tuesday's primary races in Warren County.
Unofficial results late Tuesday showed Robert Fulper, Frank McVey and Danielle DeGerolamo coming out atop the Republican ticket, with 385, 368 and 333 votes respectively, according to unofficial results with all precincts reporting about 11:30 p.m.
The team of Emil Brisson, Lee Clark and Ashley Huff were winners for the Democrats, with tallies of 537, 473 and 436.
Independents had until Tuesday to declare their candidacy for the general election.
Warren County primary election results
Bernie Fey Jr. was the only incumbent in the race, but lost with 223 votes. Council President Todd Tersigni and Randy Piazza, both Republicans, did not seek re-election.
Fey was also the only candidate without running mates. DeGerolamo, Fulper and McVey ran as a team on the Republican ticket.
There were two competing groups on the Democratic side: Saverio Samarelli, Jennifer McBride and Timothy Zagra conceded defeat to Brisson, Clark and Huff in a one-word Facebook post about 11:15 p.m.
This is the first council election in Phillipsburg since Democrats swept into office in 2015. That year, Stephen Ellis upset longtime Republican Mayor Harry Wyant as fellow Democrats Mark Lutz and Joshua Davis also won seats on the council.
The party would have held majority of the five-member council -- a rarity in the heavily Republican county -- but Tersigni switched his affiliation from Democrat to the GOP early in 2016.
Steve Novak may be reached at snovak@lehighvalleylive.com. Follow him on Twitter @type2supernovak and Facebook. Find lehighvalleylive.com on Facebook.