Campaign oversight reveals Democratic VP candidates under discussion
Saturday, May 7th, 2022
The Seaborn presidential campaign appears to have inadvertently revealed who has made the first cut for the party's vice presidential nomination by the public release of line-item details of campaign purchasing of over a dozen Internet domain names involving various Democratic politicians. First noted in
The Washington Post, a detailed list of domain purchases, apparently meant to be used for in-house record-keeping, was accidentally appended to documents given to the Federal Election Commission (FEC). Digital copies of Seaborn campaign filings, including the accidental list of purchased domain names, is now publicly viewable on the FEC's website.
Political campaigns at the presidential level often purchase Internet domain names to redirect to the site of their preferred candidate. Former president Glen Allen Walken's campaign, for example, bought almost a dozen websites ("glenwalken.com" and "presidentwalken.com", for example) to redirect to his campaign website, an unusual amount for presidential candidates explained by Walken's prominent use of his middle name and status as a former acting president.
Campaign spokeswoman Annabeth Schott confirmed the list was released in error, but did not offer comments on specific candidates whose names were revealed by the domain purchases.
In alphabetical order, the 15 candidates the campaign appears to have advanced beyond the initial stage of discussions include:
Gov. Elizabeth Bartlet (NH)
Sen. Kurt Carner (MT)
Gov. Jarrod Daniels (MN)
Sen. Alicia DeSantos (FL)
Gov. Will Diego (NM)
Gov. Kelly Hoffman (NJ)
Sen. Andrew Howard (WA)
Sen. Dante Jenkins (NJ)
Sen. Ben Newell (CO)
Secretary of the Treasury Meredith Payne (MI)
Sen. Becky Reeseman (MI)
Sen. Rudi Robinson (IN)
Ambassador to the UN Paris Stray (ME)
Sen. Louise Thornton (VA)
former Gov. Bobby Tyler (VA)
The list reveals a focus on diversity, with six women under consideration and six people of color (including two women of color). Perhaps fitting a campaign that has consciously focused on finding a running mate acceptable to the broader Democratic Party after the selection of Franklin Hollis in 2018, only two candidates from inside the administration are apparently being vetted for taking the number two position.