LAST 24 HOURS IN A NUTSHELL:
Top House hashtags:
Top Senate hashtags:
Interesting climbers
- #reformfirst (12th place House): A tag referring to a call by more than 100 Democratic House candidates for campaign-finance reform, spotlighting the corrosive effect of large donations and special-interest money. Particularly strong in a handful of Virginia races.
- #communityfirst (19th place House): A California 04 Democratic hashtag, in many cases highlighting GOP incumbent Tom McClintock‘s reference to preexisting medical conditions – such as asthma, spinal-surgery complications – as “nuisances.” Many in the district were not amused.
- #AZvotesearly (14th place Senate): Largely from Arizona Senate Democrat Kristen Sinema, highlighting her campaign’s GOTV efforts tied to the state’s early-voting policy. Early balloting there will begin Oct. 10.
GENERAL TRENDS:
On the Senate side, the Montana Senate race (#mtpol) joins Ted Cruz‘s Texas standbys at the top of the list. As with the state’s previous showings here, the top tweets are all from the official Montana Republican party, attacking incumbent Democrat Jon Tester.
On the House side, we see the return of the strong weekly showing from the Democratic activists in Pennsylvania 01 looking to vote incumbent Republican Brian Fitzpatrick out of office. A recent poll still showed Fitzpatrick a few points ahead of Democratic challenger Scott Wallace. Worth keeping an eye on, as this is one of the most consistently active House races on Twitter.
The #gotv tag is buoyed today particularly by Mississippi Democratic Senate challenger Mike Espy, who is facing an uphill race against two Republicans. Because the November ballot will technically be a special election to fill the now-retired Thad Cochran‘s seat (with a runoff if nobody gets 50%), there are still two GOP hopefuls in the running.