After narrowly losing to Frank White Jr. in the 2022 Democratic primary, Stacy Lake staged a comeback as winner of the Democratic Jackson County executive race.
Lake is an attorney specializing in civil litigation. But her two previous runs for county executive made her a strong candidate in this year’s primaries.
“I feel deeply touched,” Lake said “This is a campaign that's been running for six years, and so what you're seeing is basically a mass of six years of dedication from my followers.”
Lake’s campaign focused on modernizing the Jackson County government and maintaining countywide transparency and accountability.
Lake’s seven-point strategy, called the JACKSON Plan, promises to resolve property tax concerns and introduce a deep-scale audit process to ensure all money is accounted for.
“I believe that the average Jackson County resident – they don't trust how the Jackson County government has been operating for the past several years,” Lake said. “When we do our reassessments, we will, one, not have another property tax crisis, but, two, that our assessments will be done fairly and lawfully.”
Lake says she plans to invest in the county’s infrastructure by expanding current public transportation and improving the county buildings, some of which are falling apart.
A troubled property tax system
The county’s embattled property tax system was top of mind for the six Democrats vying to replace interim incumbent Phil LeVota, who was named by the Jackson County legislature to replace County Executive Frank White Jr. White was voted out of office in a recall election in September 2025 by an overwhelming 85% of the electorate.
His ouster came after fiercely vocal dissatisfaction with his administration's handling of the county property tax system and dramatically rising property tax assessments.
Lake may soon inherit LeVota’s three-year property tax credit program meant to offset the cost to residents who overpaid their property tax bills in 2023.
Lake said her first initiative towards reform is to sever the county’s relationship with Tyler Technologies and bring assessment back in-house.
Alan Rohlfing moves forward
With no challengers, Alan Rohlfing won the Republican primary by default and will soon face Lake in the November general election.
Rohlfing served in the military for three decades. He supports property tax reform and his website says his administration will focus on reducing government spending, making the county more economically competitive and conducting a full review of the Jackson County Charter.
Rohlfing also wants to strengthen county services, including public safety, infrastructure and public works.
