After Election Day: what to do with your campaign website

On election night you will be tired, and the last thing on your mind is your website. That is fine. But within a few days, someone will search your name. A reporter writing the follow-up story. A neighbor who saw your signs. A party chair or civic group already thinking about the next cycle. What they find should match where you are now, not where you were on the Saturday before the vote.

This guide covers the first week, the first few months, and the longer view for both outcomes.

The first week: say thank you

Replace the "Vote on Election Day" banner and the countdown with a short, plain thank-you. Two or three paragraphs is enough. Thank the voters, the volunteers who knocked doors in the heat, the families who let you put a sign in their yard, and your opponent for a fair race if it was one.

If you won, say what happens next: when you are sworn in, when the first meeting is, and how people can reach you in the meantime. If you lost, say so with grace and say what you will keep working on. A candidate who lost a county council race by 300 votes and then shows up at the next rezoning hearing anyway earns more respect than one whose site just goes dark.

A short checklist for that first week:

• Swap the homepage hero for a thank-you message and a current photo
• Remove "vote early" and polling place reminders that are now out of date
• Turn off or relabel the donate button (see below)
• Close the volunteer and yard sign forms, or change them to a simple "stay in touch" form
• Post a final note on Facebook that links back to the thank-you page

Donations, debt and your disclaimer

Some campaigns end with a little money left over. Others end owing the printer. If you still have campaign debt, you may be allowed to keep raising money to retire it. If you do not, leave the donate button off so nobody gives by mistake.

Your "Paid for by" line also needs attention. As long as the campaign committee exists and is paying for the site, the disclaimer stays. If you close the committee, or move the site to personal funds or an officeholder account, the wording may need to change. Rules on what you can do with leftover funds, how to close a committee, and what disclaimer language applies vary by state. Check with your state ethics commission or elections office. For federal races, the FEC sets the rules. This is not legal advice.

Our guide to paid-for-by disclaimers and the disclaimer builder can help you draft the new line once you know which rule applies.

Keep, export or archive the site

You have three choices, and none of them locks you in.

Even if you archive the site, take the export too. Your bio, issue pages and photos took real work. In two years you will want them, and rewriting from memory is slower than editing what you already have. Details are on our FAQ page.

Keep the domain, even if you take the site down

Your domain is the cheapest asset you own and one of the most valuable. Renew it. Set it to auto-renew if your registrar allows it, and make sure the renewal goes to an email address you will still check next year.

Why it matters:

• Your name is already printed on signs, push cards and old mailers. If someone scans an old card in 2028, it should land somewhere you control.
• Expired campaign domains get bought up. Sometimes by people who will use your name in ways you will not like.
• If you run again, you already have the address voters know.

If your domain includes a year or a district number that may change after redistricting, consider also registering a plain name-based domain now. Our domain name guide covers how to pick one that lasts more than one cycle.

If you won: moving to an officeholder site

Constituents will start using your campaign site as a way to reach their new council member, school board member or sheriff. That is a good problem. It also raises a question you should answer before you post anything: is this still a campaign site, or is it now part of your official role?

Many states treat campaign resources and official resources differently. Some do not let you use public staff or public money for campaign work. Others limit what campaign funds can pay for once you are in office. A site that mixes "Re-elect me in 2030" with official meeting minutes and a constituent help form can create problems in some places. Ask your state ethics office or county attorney how they want you to handle it. This is not legal advice.

Once you know the rules, an officeholder site often includes:

• A constituent contact form that routes to the right email
• Your meeting calendar and how residents can sign up to speak
• Short notes after each meeting: what passed, how you voted, and why
• Links to the official county, city or school district pages for agendas and minutes
• Office hours or town hall dates

Meeting notes are the piece most officials skip and the one voters remember. A three-paragraph summary after a budget workshop or a road paving vote builds a record you can point to when you run for re-election.

If you lost: staying in the conversation

Many local officials lost their first race. The ones who came back usually stayed visible in between. You do not need to post every week. A few things are enough:

• Keep your issue pages up, with an update when something you campaigned on comes before the council or board.
• Keep a simple "stay in touch" form so supporters can hear from you.
• Post when you speak at a public meeting or serve on a local board or committee.

If you think you might run in 2028, our 2028 early reservation holds a launch slot for a $99 deposit that is credited to setup, and refunded if you decide not to run before work starts. The 2028 general election is Tuesday, November 7, 2028. Filing periods and primaries vary by state, so check your state election office for your dates.

Your data belongs to the campaign

Your volunteer list, yard sign requests and email signups belong to the campaign. Not to us, not to a template company, not to a donation platform's marketing team. With CandidateLaunch you can request a full export of the site and any form data we route for you at any time, and we never reuse one campaign's contacts for another.

Before you close anything down, make sure someone on your team has:

• A copy of every spreadsheet the site's forms fed into
• The login for the domain registrar
• The login for your donation page and its records
• A copy of the site export, stored somewhere other than one person's laptop

Treat those lists with care. The people on them trusted you with their address and phone number for a specific purpose. If your state has rules on how campaign contact lists may be used or transferred after a race, follow them, and when in doubt, ask before you share.

Questions about any of this? Get in touch and we will walk through your options.

Common questions

Should I take my campaign website down if I lost?

Usually not right away. Post a thank-you message, update the disclaimer if your committee status changes, and keep the domain. A quiet, gracious site helps you if you run again and costs little to keep.

Can I turn my campaign site into an officeholder site?

Often, yes, but campaign resources and official resources are treated differently in many states. Confirm with your state ethics or elections office before you post official business on a site paid for by your campaign. This is not legal advice.

Who owns the volunteer and donor lists collected on the site?

Those lists belong to the campaign, not to us or any vendor. With CandidateLaunch you can take a full export at any time, and we never reuse a campaign's data.

Does the thank-you page cost extra?

No. The post-election thank-you page is free for every CandidateLaunch client, win or lose.