COLUMBUS, OH — Rep. Dale Hoffmeister, 61, the four-term Republican congressman representing Ohio’s 9th District, inadvertently visited his own campaign website Tuesday while attempting to Google himself for a fundraising graphic, and emerged seventeen minutes later having formally disagreed with six of his own policy positions.

Hoffmeister, who said he had not visited the site since a staffer launched it in 2018, described the experience as “clarifying.” He took particular issue with the Issues tab, which outlined his stances on border security, energy policy, and federal spending with a certainty he called “a lot.”

“I don’t remember agreeing to any of this specifically,” Hoffmeister told reporters outside the Capitol. “The photo is good, though. That’s a good photo of me.”

“He hasn’t updated that site since the Obama administration. Half those positions were written by an intern who is now a lobbyist for the positions we were against.”

Communications director Tara Fenstermacher, 34, confirmed the site had not been reviewed since its initial launch and described the congressman’s discovery as “an internal matter.” She added that a full audit of the site’s content was now “a priority,” placing it just behind the district office’s fax machine replacement, which has been a priority since 2021.

Hoffmeister’s office has not yet determined whether the website will be updated to reflect the congressman’s current positions or whether the congressman’s current positions will be updated to reflect the website.

At press time, Hoffmeister had discovered a second website registered under a slight misspelling of his name, containing positions he agreed with entirely, operated by a man named Dale Hoffmaster of Akron who has never sought public office.