In Congressional elections, candidates use Twitter to help their campaigns, including ‘going negative’

Much has been made of the role of social media in Barack Obama’s presidential election victories in 2008 and 2012, but what has been its impact on Congressional campaigns? In a study of more than 67,000 tweets from candidates for the House of Representatives during the 2012 election, Heather Evans finds that incumbents, Democrats, women, and those in competitive races tweet differently than challengers, Republicans, minor party candidates, men, and those in safe districts.