MORGANTOWN, W.Va. — The Morgantown City Clerk’s Office has officially presented an updated list of candidates running for city council in the upcoming municipal election.
Less than a week before the deadline to file as a candidate for council for the April 29 election, Morgantown City Clerk Christine Wade announced that five candidates from the three wards whose seats will be up for a vote have passed the minimum thresholds to be placed on the ballot. In the updated list, one candidate was confirmed for the Second Ward, two candidates for the Fourth Ward, and two candidates for the Sixth Ward.
“We’ve started the certificates of candidacy for those folks who have already turned them in,” said Wade. “We have one person, Jodi Hollingshead, for Ward Two, two in the Fourth Ward, that’s Jenny Selin and Michael O’Brien, and two in the Sixth Ward, Mark Downs and Stephanie Hunt,” she said.
Hollingshead is a photographer and the owner of As You Are Boudoir, a small business based in Morgantown. Morgantown Deputy Mayor Jenny Selin, the longest-serving member on the council, is running for re-election after 17 years in office, and Michael O’Brien is a Morgantown native who currently works as a branch manager for the United Federal Credit Union. Mark Downs is the president of Main Street Morgantown who also served as a board member for the Morgantown Area Partnership and previously worked as a chief of staff at NASA. Stephanie Hunt is a small business owner who graduated from West Virginia University. Potential candidates who wish to run still have a chance to submit certificates of announcements to the Morgantown City Clerk’s Office.
“Folks can still turn in their certificate of announcement until February 10th,” said Wade. “75 valid signatures should be turned in, also by February 10th, so if we still have folks who would like to run, you can do that,” she said.
According to Wade, anyone who wishes to run for a spot on the Morgantown City Council must first file an official certificate of announcement along with a petition for candidacy that must be signed by registered voters who live in the city. To qualify to be placed on the ballot, candidates must be residents and registered voters within Morgantown city limits and must get 75 verified signatures of residents who are registered voters in the ward they are seeking to represent. Write-in candidates can also submit applications with the same requirements at the Morgantown City Clerk’s Office until April 15th.
“We can still have write-in candidates as well, by Tuesday, April 15, a write-in candidate certificate of announcement of candidacy shall be filed with the City Clerk no later than the 14th day before the election,” Wade said.
Wade also mentioned that the city is still seeking substitute poll workers for early voting and election day. For early voting, ballots will be accepted at the Historic Railroad Depot at Hazel Ruby from April 16 until April 26 between 7:30 a.m. and 5:30 p.m. with polls closed on that Friday. There will be nine polling places on election day, and residents who wish to vote will be able to see their polling location on their voter registration card required for votes to be cast. With the election less than two months away, Wade and other officials from the City of Morgantown are encouraging residents to file candidacy papers if they wish to run and to go on the city’s website if they wish to help work polls.
“We always need some alternates because you never know when they (poll workers) might get sick,” said Wade. “We would like to have about 15 so folks can go onto our website, morgantownwv.gov, and apply to be a poll worker,” she said.