MORGANTOWN, W.Va. — The former president of Main Street Morgantown is now set to take over the Sixth Ward seat on the Morgantown City Council.
Mark Downs defeated business owner Stephanie Hunt for the Sixth Ward seat in the 2025 Morgantown Municipal election, according to the unofficial results released by the Morgantown City Clerk’s Office. Downs received 1,046 votes in comparison to Hunt’s 751 vote tally out of the 1,886 votes that were tallied as part of early voting and ballots cast across seven polling locations Tuesday. Downs calls the wins a reflection of both the support expressed in his community and the effort taken during his campaign.
“I think it was just the community; we had a strong foundation of support across the entire community,” said Downs. “It was grounded in the work that we’ve been doing for years and just trying to make Morgantown better.”
Downs is a born-and-raised Morgantown resident who also has served on the board of directors for Workforce West Virginia and previously worked as chief of staff at NASA. Downs has also been active in downtown Morgantown activities while a part of Main Street Morgantown, where he has also served a separate term as Economic Vitality Chair for the organization.
“I think people know what potential Morgantown has,” said Downs. “And this election was testament to them coming together and sending a clear message that we’re going to get some things done.”
Despite the involvement of Downs in the various community efforts, he appreciated the level of effort needed to win the Sixth Ward Morgantown City Council race by close to sixty percent of the submitted votes pending canvassing. This included showing up at numerous community events and public protests that independently took place in the months ahead of the April election. While he’s appreciative of the work that it took to get him in a position to win the Sixth Ward council race, Downs is humbled by the support given to him by voters.
“Having never done this before, I didn’t expect what I had in store for me,” said Downs. “Didn’t anticipate or understand how hard it was going to be, but we got through it.”
Downs will take over for soon-to-be departing Sixth Ward Councilor Dave Harshbarger, who announced he was not running for Morgantown City Council back in January 2025. Downs will officially be sworn into the Sixth Ward Morgantown City Council seat after Harshbarger’s term ends on June 30. With an over 200-vote margin safely securing a victory pending any significant change during canvassing, Downs is appreciative of the opportunity given to him by Morgantown voters.
“The other thing that I didn’t anticipate was the bonds that we’re going to form,” said Downs. “The friendships that are going to be made and the relationships that I’m going to carry with me for the rest of my life that are very, very special.”
Jodie Hollingshead received 1,323 votes in an uncontested race for the Second Ward Morgantown City Council seat. Longtime incumbent and current Morgantown Deputy Mayor Jenny Selin received 1,226 votes as the lone candidate in the Fourth Ward race.
Ballot canvassing for the 2025 Morgantown Municipal Election will take place on May 5.