Tag: House of Representatives

Twitter Is the Best Predictor of Congressional Races

Buck Banks

404 of 406

Number of House races correctly predicted by Twitter in the 2010 midterm elections, according to National Journal: “The key measure, researchers from Indiana University found, was a candidate’s ‘tweet share,’ the percentage of total tweets about a race that mention them. The more often a candidate is mentioned on Twitter relative to their opponent, the study reported, the greater their chance for victory.”

Apparently, Lots of ‘Mr. Smiths’ Go to Washington

Buck Banks

115

Number of House of Representative members with the surname Smith, according to a Smart Politics analysis. With the addition of Missouri’s Jason Smith to its rolls, the name now extends its lead to 50 over “Johnson” which comes in second with 65. Rounding out the Top 10 are Davis with 55, Wilson and Williams with 54, Miller with 49, Brown with 46, Jones with 45, and Taylor and White with 41.