Teresa Lewis had just celebrated winning the Mount Airy mayoral race Tuesday night when she got a call from the Surry County Board of Elections.
There was a problem with the results.
She drove to the elections board's office, where she was told that results from two precincts had been incorrectly reported and that she had lost the race, not won it.
"I was a little surprised," Lewis said. "I came home and called as many of my supporters as I could."
According to the revised complete but unofficial results, Lewis got 897 votes and her opponent, Deborah Cochran, got 1,018.
"I'm fine," Lewis said about the turn of events. "I have a wonderful business and a wonderful family. Of course I would have much preferred to know the outcome beforehand."
Susan Jarrell, the election board's director, said that the problem began when computer modems at two precincts failed. That meant that poll judges had to call in the results to the elections board's office.
Judges reported the results in the opposite order listed on a tally sheet being used in the office, so Cochran's votes were given to Lewis and vice versa, Jarrell said.
"It was human error," Jarrell said. "We have checks and balances to correct those errors, and that's what we did."
No other races were affected by the mix-up, Jarrell said.
Lewis said she was not likely to appeal the results.
"At this point I have no plans in the political arena. I think I'll stick with business," said Lewis, who owns Workforce Carolina, a staffing company with offices in Mount Airy and Elkin.
Cochran said she spent most of Tuesday night with a group of about 300 supporters under the assumption that she had lost the race.
"I just told folks it's going to be OK," she said.
She said that she is glad to have won, but that her perspective on the importance of the race has changed since she found out her brother has leukemia.
Cochran, a radio broadcaster who has served on the town's board of commissioners for the past two years, said she will focus her attention on bringing jobs to Mount Airy.
pgarber@wsjournal.com
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