click to enlarge - Screenshot
- welchforgovernor.com
As Congressman Peter Welch (D-Vt.) weighs a run for governor next year, the fifth-term Democrat appears to be hedging his bets.
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- welchforgovernor.com domain registration from the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers' WHOIS system.
On Saturday, longtime Welch campaign staffer Meredith Woodside
snagged the website domain name
welchforgovernor.com. So far, the website includes no campaign information.
What to make of the move? Not much, according to Bob Rogan, Welch’s chief of staff.
“As you know, there is a cottage industry of people who buy up political domain names to make money by selling them back to the politician,” Rogan said Monday. “Unequivocally, you should not read into this that a decision has been made or is even close to being made. This is just prudent scenario planning by campaign staff. Nothing more.”
Woodside also secured the more versatile name welchforvermont.com on May 27. Since he first ran for Congress in 2006, Welch's campaign website has been
welchforcongress.com.
The Norwich Democrat
said last week that he's considering running for governor, though he hasn't said when he'll make his decision. Last Monday, three-term Democratic Gov. Peter Shumlin announced he would not seek reelection.
Welch isn't the only candidate looking to secure a spot on the world wide web. In March, Montpelier public relations specialist John Wagner secured the domain name philscottforgovernor.com. Lt. Gov. Phil Scott, a Republican, is also considering running for governor.
click to enlarge - Screenshot
- welchforgovernor.com domain registration from the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers' WHOIS system.