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Special Election IL05 Mon Feb 09 2009

Tracking the IL-05 Candidates on Twitter

il5twitter.jpg

There are sorts of unconventional ways to examine the 5th District special election. Jesse Greenberg took a look at the leading candidates' utilization of Twitter. He finds that State Rep. Sara Feigenholtz is way ahead of the others, followed by Mike Quigley in a distant second.

Here's a list, in alphabetical order, of all the Twitter accounts for IL-05 candidates that we could find; if you're aware of others, let us know in the comments.

Greg Bedell
Paul Bryar
Sara Feigenholtz
John Fritchey
Tom Geoghegan
Mike Quigley
Charlie Wheelan

Seven out of 26 (give or take) candidates on Twitter -- and only two are outside the lead pack. That's really surprising, considering the social networking platform's prominence in the 2008 presidential election.

 
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Veronica / February 9, 2009 11:01 PM

I started to follow Sara just to keep tabs on her and the next day I got a follow from Mike. I'm really surprised that Geoghegan isn't Twittering more since he has such a following on blogs.

Jesse / February 10, 2009 9:58 AM

This is a great post.

Veronica, I had the same exact experience with Twitter and the top candidates trying to pick off each others followers.

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Feature

Parents Still Steaming, but About More Than Just Boilers

By Phil Huckelberry / 2 Comments

It's now been 11 days since the carbon monoxide leak which sent over 80 Prussing Elementary School students and staff to the hospital. While officials from Chicago Public Schools have partially answered some questions, and CPS CEO Forrest Claypool has informed that he will be visiting the school to field more questions on Nov. 16, many parents remain irate at the CPS response to date. More...

Civics

Substance, Not Style, the Source of Rahm's Woes

By Ramsin Canon / 2 Comments

It's not surprising that some of Mayor Emanuel's sympathizers and supporters are confusing people's substantive disputes with the mayor as the effect of poor marketing on his part. It's exactly this insular worldview that has gotten the mayor in hot... More...

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Mechanics is the politics section of Gapers Block, reflecting the diversity of viewpoints and beliefs of Chicagoans and Illinoisans. More...
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