diff --git a/src/controller/myapp.c b/src/controller/myapp.c
index 837082b..20370cb 100644
--- a/src/controller/myapp.c
+++ b/src/controller/myapp.c
@@ -75,6 +75,21 @@ int myapp_run(myconf_t* myconf)
     iomgr_start(&(c.iomgr));
     vtaskmgr_start(&(c.vtaskmgr));
 
+    /* Pre-load config from disk if a local config file exists, so that this
+     * node's config_tag is known before election.  This allows the freshness gate
+     * in am_i_primary_quorum() (Req 2.4) to work correctly: a node with a valid
+     * local config will win over nodes that have no config (tag=0).
+     * If no config file exists yet, config_version_tag stays 0 and the node will
+     * defer the config fetch to after election via bootstrap_config_if_needed. */
+    {
+        int pre_rc = load_primary_config(&c);
+        if (pre_rc == 0) {
+            INFO("Pre-election config loaded: tag=%016llx",
+                 (unsigned long long)c.myconf->config_version_tag);
+        }
+        /* Ignore errors — node may have no config yet (first boot or standby) */
+    }
+
     /* Req 3.1–3.4: probe peers for config tags before election so that a node
      * joining an existing cluster knows to defer its config fetch to post-election
      * rather than participating as a first-boot candidate with no config. */