Six weeks before Election Day, Lake Lure Insider borrowed a question from a national voter guide and suggested residents put it to every candidate: If you win, what is your plan for easing divisions? If you lose, what is it then? (Dignity Is on the Ballot Too, Sept. 21)

On Wednesday morning, the candidates answered it, whether they meant to or not.

Unofficial results Tuesday night gave Mayor Carol Pritchett another two-year term with 434 votes to 286 write-in votes, and sent Commissioner Jim Proctor (431) and newcomer Dave Lusk (383) to the two open Town Council seats. Friedrich Jaeger and Richard Sayles finished tied at 253 votes each. Individual totals for write-in mayoral candidates Kathy Tanner and John Edmonds Kozma are expected by the county canvass next week. (Full results)

What stood out the morning after was not the margins. It was how much the winners and the candidates who lost sounded alike. The one sharper note came from write-in mayoral candidate John Edmonds Kozma, who thanked his supporters but said the town's hardest problems have not gone anywhere.

"Our town is too small not to get along"

Jaeger, a former police officer who ran for council for the first time, answered Lake Lure Insider's questions in writing Wednesday morning. He said he was proud of the positive campaign he ran and that he had declined a political party endorsement because he thought partisan politics had no place in a town this size.

"One thing I emphasized throughout my campaign is that we're a small town, and it's important that we all continue to get along, respect one another, and work together, regardless of whom we supported in the election," he said. "We may not always agree, but at the end of the day, we're still neighbors."

He congratulated Lusk, Proctor and Mayor Pritchett and wished every member of town leadership success. "I genuinely hope they do well," he said, "because when they succeed, our town succeeds."

He closed with the line he said he used throughout the campaign: "Our town is too small not to get along." And one more: "Elections have winners and losers, but our community shouldn't."

Sayles, who owns the Grafton Lodge Bed and Breakfast and chairs the local ABC Board, thanked supporters in a Facebook post Wednesday and congratulated Proctor and Lusk. He also congratulated Nicholas Sottile and W. Bennett Phillips, who won seats on the Chimney Rock Village Council the same night.

"I ran because I love this town, and talking with so many of you along the way only deepened that," Sayles wrote. He said he will keep chairing the ABC Board and serving on the Lake Advisory Board, "and I'll keep showing up for this town."

The winners

Mayor Pritchett, who has led the town since 2019, posted a message to residents Wednesday under the heading "Together, we rise. Together, we move forward. Together, we build Lake Lure's next chapter!"

She thanked voters, congratulated Proctor on his re-election, and welcomed Lusk to the council alongside continuing Commissioners Dave DiOrio and Patrick Bryant. She also thanked Commissioner Scott Doster, who did not seek re-election, for his years of service.

Pritchett recognized the candidates who ran against her slate as well. "It takes courage, commitment, and a genuine desire to make a difference to put your name forward," she wrote. Once an election is over, she said, "we are one community, united by our love for Lake Lure and our shared hopes for its future."

Her message listed the work she sees ahead: rebuilding the water and sewer systems, the future of the dam, continued flood mitigation, and the town's long-term resilience. She pointed to Lake Lure's centennial in 2027 as a chance to renew the town's commitment to the generations that follow, and asked residents to "listen to one another with respect, extend grace and understanding, and work together toward a common purpose."

Proctor, a former mayor who first ran for council in 1981, kept his Facebook post to two sentences: "Thank you Lake Lure for giving me four more years to serve on the Lake Lure Town Council. I am truly honored."

Lusk, a commercial contractor and volunteer firefighter making his first run for office, was just as brief on his campaign's Facebook page: "Job done! I am honored to be elected to the Lake Lure Town Council. I look forward to serving our community."

Where they agree

The candidates disagreed this fall about who should lead and how fast. Read side by side, their morning-after messages point at much of the same work.

Pritchett named the dam, water and sewer, and flood mitigation. Jaeger, asked what issues he hoped the new council would take up, named four:

• Federal grants, especially the Department of Justice's COPS Microgrants and technology funding, which he said could improve public safety and technology without leaning entirely on local taxpayers.
• Housing, through an interlocal agreement with Polk County, an idea he first raised at the Oct. 1 candidate forum.
• The comprehensive plan, which he called a main reason he ran. He said the plan will shape the town for years and should reflect what residents say they need.
• Transparency. "Residents deserve to understand how and why decisions are made, how their tax dollars are spent, and what plans are being considered for their community," he said. "Greater transparency builds trust, even when people disagree with a particular decision."

That last point connects to the mayor's own call to listen with respect. Listening goes both ways, and it is easier when residents can see the agendas, packets, recordings and decisions in time to weigh in. Several candidates this fall, on both sides of the ballot, said as much at the forum.*

Staying involved

None of the candidates who lost said they were walking away.

Jaeger said he will not run for office again. He said he ran this year because of the comprehensive plan and the direction of the recovery after Hurricane Helene, and that as a father he was thinking about what the town will look like as his children grow up. He said he would be open to serving on a town board "if I felt my experience and abilities could bring something of value to it."

"I've always believed that you don't need an elected position to make a positive difference," he said. "My commitment to this town was here long before this election, and it isn't going anywhere."

Sayles will stay on the ABC Board and the Lake Advisory Board.

Kathy Tanner, who ran a write-in campaign for mayor, posted her own message Wednesday evening on her campaign's Facebook page. She thanked her supporters and congratulated Pritchett on her re-election, wishing her success "in leading our town forward."

Tanner returned to the themes she ran on: the town center, parks and public spaces, and stronger ties with partners across the Hickory Nut Gorge, Rutherford County and the state. "We have strong leaders and willing partners who are ready to work together," she wrote.

"While the election is behind us, the work of building a stronger, more connected Lake Lure continues," Tanner wrote. "I hope we can come together, find common ground, and make the most of the opportunities ahead." She said she looks forward to continuing to serve the community "for many years to come."

Kozma, the other write-in candidate for mayor, posted a video on Facebook. He thanked everyone who supported and voted for him and acknowledged how hard a write-in campaign is to win. Then he said the issues he ran on remain, whoever was elected.

He said the dam still needs about $200 million, with thousands of people living downstream, and said he did not believe the town's current leadership has a plan in place. "They run the place like it's 1982," he said. He also said the town's water and sewer system has leaks and overflows, and suggested Lake Lure may regularly be out of compliance with state and federal environmental rules.

Kozma did not cite sources for those claims in the video. At the Oct. 1 forum, he cited 3,052 people living in the dam's flood zone.

State records back up part of his point about the sewer system. Since 2022, the Town's wastewater treatment plant and collection system have operated under a state Special Order by Consent, No. S20-004, which sets temporary "interim" limits while the Town makes repairs. In October, the state Environmental Management Commission gave public notice that it intends to amend that order at the Town's request, effective Dec. 1. According to the notice, the amended order requires rehabilitation and upgrades at the treatment plant, improvements to the collection system and upgrades at pump stations, and it runs through July 31, 2031. (NC DEQ public notice)

The notice does not say how often, if at all, the Town has exceeded its limits, and Lake Lure Insider has not yet seen the draft order itself. So we cannot confirm Kozma's claim that violations happen regularly. We have asked the state for a copy and will report what it says.

Kozma ended on a hopeful note. "Hopefully we can find a positive. Hopefully we can find improvement," he said, "and we can continue to make this place better."

Later in a second video, he criticized what he called an "emotional shell game" in politics, where personal attacks crowd out talk about what candidates will actually do and how. "You can't make good decisions on emotions," he said.

What happens next

• Town Council meeting: Tuesday, Nov. 10, at 5 p.m. at the temporary Town Hall at The Landings.
• County canvass: 11 a.m. Friday, Nov. 13, when Rutherford County certifies the results. The meeting is open to the public, and individual write-in totals are expected by then.
• Swearing-in: The new council takes its oath by the Town Council's first regular December meeting, currently scheduled for Dec. 8.

How we reported this

Lake Lure Insider sent the same questions to every Lake Lure candidate after the polls closed Tuesday. Friedrich Jaeger answered in writing. Mayor Carol Pritchett, Commissioner Jim Proctor and Dave Lusk did not respond to a request for comment by publication, so their quotes are taken from their public Facebook posts. Comments from Richard Sayles and Kathy Tanner are also from their public Facebook posts, and John Edmonds Kozma's are from a video on his Facebook page, transcribed by Lake Lure Insider. We will update this story if any candidate responds directly.

Sources

• Friedrich Jaeger, written responses to Lake Lure Insider, Nov. 4, 2026
• Mayor Carol Pritchett, "Message from the Mayor," Facebook, Nov. 4, 2026
• Jim Proctor, Facebook post, Nov. 3, 2026
• Dave Lusk for Lake Lure, Facebook post, Nov. 4, 2026
• Richard Sayles, Facebook post, Nov. 4, 2026
• Kathy Tanner for Lake Lure Mayor, Facebook post, Nov. 4, 2026
• John Edmonds Kozma, Facebook video, Nov. 4, 2026 (transcribed by Lake Lure Insider)
• North Carolina State Board of Elections, unofficial results, Nov. 3, 2026
• NC DEQ: Notification of intent to issue a consent order, Town of Lake Lure, permits NC0025381 and WQCS00131
• NC DEQ: Active Special Orders by Consent
• N.C. Gen. Stat. § 160A-68, organizational meeting and oath
• Lake Lure Insider: Lake Lure Has Chosen. Now Comes the Part That Belongs to All of Us.
• Lake Lure Insider: Lake Lure Candidates Agree on Dam and Sewer, Split on Who Should Lead
• Lake Lure Insider: Dignity Is on the Ballot Too
• Lake Lure Insider: Why I'm Taking the Town of Lake Lure to Court Over Public Records

* Disclosure: Lake Lure Insider is not a neutral party on transparency. On Nov. 2, after 67 days without a response to a public records request filed Aug. 27, we filed a public records lawsuit against the Town. The request covers five records. We would much rather have the documents than a court fight, and we hope the Town will provide them before the case has to go any further. A new term is a good moment for a fresh start, and that offer stands.

Last updated: 2026-11-04