LAST 24 HOURS IN A NUTSHELL:
Top House hashtags:
Top Senate hashtags:
Interesting climbers:
- #arpx (12th place House): A shorthand for “Arkansas politics.” Used here primarily by Democrat Clarke Tucker, whose GOP rival (and incumbent) French Hill declined to attend a televised candidate debate.
- #waelex (18th place House): Shorthand for “Washington state elections.” Here primarily referencing the campaign of Democrat Lisa Brown in heavily rural Washington 05, who notes she is a 2nd amendment supporter who will “put our country over either party.”
- #tcot (5th place Senate): An acronyms for “top conservatives on Twitter,” this had its heyday nearly a decade ago, before various factions supporting it started arguing over its use. Today it’s primarily being used to celebrate an upset GOP win in a Texas state senate special election, in a district usually held by Democrats (with considerable cross-posting in #TXSen).
GENERAL TRENDS
On the Senate side, Ted Cruz’s highly questionable Twitter juggernaut is continuing to steamroll the competition. Michigan’s John James has today been pushed out of the top three by #txlege, which refers to a GOP special-election victory (see #tcot above). It’s worth noting that the Montana Senate race (#MTSen) is seeing more activity, largely due to a back-and-forth between incumbent Democrat Jon Tester and the official Montana Republican Party.
On the House side, #truth is centered around a clever new ad by Democrat Dean Phillips in Minnesota 03, in which Bigfoot, skeptical that GOP incumbent Erik Paulsen actually exists, goes looking for him in his natural habitat – the offices of Big Pharma companies.
Otherwise, we’re seeing Demtags #bluewave and #takeitback used heavily in quite a number of districts.