MORGANTOWN, W.Va. — The Morgantown City Council is moving ahead of the state mandate to align municipal elections with state primaries by 2032.
In response to legislation passed during the most recent session hosted in Charleston, the council agreed to move a Morgantown City Charter change to their agenda for consideration as part of their monthly committee of the whole Tuesday. The change, which would move the 2030 Morgantown Municipal Election to May 30 of that year, the same day as the West Virginia Primary Election, would also impact the terms of Morgantown City Council members who are elected in the 2027 and 2029 municipal elections.
“This change would move your elections as of 2030 to the May primary, and they would do that by creating two three-year terms in the interim at the 2027 and 2029 elections,” said Kay, Casto, and Chaney attorney representing the City of Morgantown Ryan Simonton on what the charter change entails.
According to Simonton, the charter change would affect the terms of the councilors elected to the 1st, 3rd, 5th, and 7th ward Morgantown City Council seats up for grabs in April 2027. The same would go for those elected to the 2nd, 4th, and 6th ward council seats that would be decided in April 2029. Each of the seats voted on in each election would be set for three-year terms so that when the state formalizes all elections by 2032, the City of Morgantown will have gone through a new process with, potentially, a whole new council.
“So generally it follows most closely your current terms, while also coordinating with that required even-year May primary date,” said Simonton.
The next two elections hosted solely by the City of Morgantown would also be the last in accordance with the charter change. According to Simonton, the Morgantown City Clerk’s Office would still handle the candidate nominating process for Morgantown City Council seats, and all votes would be accounted for and certified by the Monongalia County Clerk’s Office. This policy will go into full effect on the May 2030 West Virginia Primary Election.
“This city clerk would still handle the nominating petitions, but the election itself would be administered by the county clerk,” said Simonton.
The decision to move forward with the charter change was more or less affirmed to be a direct response to the state mandate that was passed during the 2025 Legislative Session during. The move also comes after the Town of Star City and the City of Westover each decided to move their elections onto the county’s primary ballot over the course of half a decade. Despite the council formally deciding to not move forward with such a charter less than a year ago, it appears that the next two Morgantown Municipal Elections will be the last conducted by the city.
“Also, because this is a charter amendment proposed by ordinance, it will be set for a public hearing with 30 days notice,” said Simonton. “And so the ordinance is set up to be finally considered by the council by public hearing at your July 15 meeting.”