Our analysis of previous congressional election cycles shows that the combination of a candidate’s last name and the office they are running for is responsible for more wins than any other Campaign Website naming strategy. 

We examined the 2006 and 2004 Open Seats in Congress and the races in those years where Challengers upset Incumbents.  A clear pattern is emerging where these professionally managed campaigns are moving away from using .org, full names, and the year of the campaign in the Candidate Website Domains.  See the results for yourself (our strategy is in red):

2006 Elections:

Of 33 Open Seats:

Winners who used LastnameForCongress.com domains – 13 (including aliases)
Winners who used FullNameForCongress.com domains - 5
Winners who used FullName.com domains – 6
Winners who used FullName.org domains – 3
Winners who used other domains – 7

In the 22 races where Challengers defeated Congressional Incumbents:

Winners who used LastnameForCongress.com domains – 9 (including aliases)
Winners who used FirstnameForCongress.com domains - 2
Winners who used FullNameForCongress.com domains - 1
Winners who used FullName.com domains – 3
Winners who used FullName.org domains – 2
Winners who used other domains – 8 (four used 2006.com at the end of their domains)

2004 Elections:

Of 32 Open Seats:

Winners who used LastnameForCongress.com domains – 9 (including aliases)
Winners who used FullNameForCongress.com domains - 5
Winners who used FullNameForCongress.org domains - 2
Winners who used FullName.com domains – 7
Winners who used FullName.org domains – 1
Winners who used 2004.com at the end of their domains - 4
Winners who used other domains – 4

In the 7 races where Challengers defeated Congressional Incumbents:

Winners who used LastnameForCongress.com domains – 1
Winners who used FullName.com domains – 5
Winners who used other domains – 1