‘HarrisWalz.com sold for $15,000 by domain squatter’
This week, shortly after Vice President Kamala Harris revealed Minnesota Governor Tim Walz as her partner in the 2024 election, the domain “HarrisWalz.com” was purchased for $15,000. It was a profitable transaction for domain holder Jeremy Greene Eche, who acquired it for about $9 in 2020.
Eche is categorized as a “domain squatter,” an individual who purchases inexpensive web addresses with the intention of selling them for a profit. The trademark attorney from New York City obtained several domains around the time of the 2020 election, focusing specifically on potential future candidates.
“I researched every heartland governor and senator I could think of,” he explained. “I acquired numerous midwestern politicians.”
Along with the Harris/Walz domain, Eche also purchased web addresses combining Harris’ name with Illinois Governor JB Pritzger, and Pennsylvania Senator John Fetterman. He attempted to acquire HarrisShapiro.com in anticipation of Harris selecting Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro, but it had already been taken.
“You just have to hope for success when you begin buying those domains,” he remarked.
In total, Eche held over a dozen domains related to the 2024 election cycle, each requiring yearly renewal for a small cost.
Eche also owned ClintonKaine.com prior to the 2016 election, when Hillary Clinton ran alongside Virginia Senator Tim Kaine. After Clinton announced Kaine as her running mate, Eche sold the domain for $15,000.
The purchaser was Brad Parscale, senior adviser for data and digital operations for Donald Trump’s 2020 presidential campaign, who utilized the site to disseminate negative information about the Democratic ticket, as reported by Wired in 2016. Parscale mentioned to the tech magazine that the site served as a platform for the Trump campaign to counter what they viewed as biased reporting from the liberal media.
“It gives us a good arena to conduct opposition research and present it,” Parscale informed Wired. “We want people to see the complete truth, not the often one-sided truth provided by the media.”
At the time of the sale, Eche was unaware of the identity of the buyer.
This wasn’t the first instance of a political domain name being used against a candidate. Visiting TedCruz.com prior to the 2016 Republican presidential primary did not lead users to the campaign website of Texas Senator Ted Cruz.
Instead, the website, owned by an Arizona attorney also named Ted Cruz, was utilized to endorse the Republican’s potential Democratic opponent, then-President Obama. The campaign ultimately utilized TedCruz.org, as per Politico.
The purchaser of HarrisWalz.com wished to remain anonymous, as per Eche. He acknowledged that he already possesses domains in anticipation of upcoming elections.
“I have numerous Tim Walz domains because, just like Harris four years ago, Tim Walz is now an apparent candidate for the presidency eight years from now.”
However, Eche confessed that directly typing in a specific web address is not as prevalent as it once was.
“Nobody simply types in ‘HarrisWalz.com,'” Eche stated. “They search for it on Google.”
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