When it comes to online story engagement, people in blue states are far more likely to be interested in the Georgia runoffs than those in red states, according to SocialFlow data exclusively provided to Cheddar.
SocialFlow tracked clicks per million residents on runoff-related stories in the two weeks leading up to the election, which will ultimately decide which political party will control the Senate.
Michigan ranked number one with approximately 1,300 clicks per million residents. The first red state to make the list was Florida, coming in at number 21 with less than 700. Louisiana, another red state, came in last place with less than 400.
For comparison, Georgia itself ranked number 10 with about 900 clicks per million.
Jim Anderson, CEO of SocialFlow, noted that blue states tend to click more on all media content than red states. However, the Georgia data is significant considering the state didn't come in first place.
"It's just sort of fascinating to see there's such a strong blue interest in this, and I suspect it's all about the Senate control, which clearly has national implications," Anderson told Cheddar Tuesday.
Anderson, a Georgia native, added the state's lower-than-expected position may be due to residents simply wanting to be done with the process.
"My Facebook feed is full of posts from my friends in Georgia saying 'I'm just exhausted by all the political advertising,'" Anderson said. "I think they just want it to be over. Because if you are in Georgia and everybody's looking at you and everybody is trying to get your attention and everybody is trying to convince you that their candidate is better than the others, I think there's a definite sense of fatigue from people who live there in Georgia."
Real estate software company RealPage has agreed to stop sharing nonpublic information between landlords as part of a settlement with the Department of Justice.
A legislative package to end the government shutdown appears on track. A handful of Senate Democrats joined with Republicans to advance the bill after what's become a deepening disruption of federal programs and services. But hurdles remain. Senators are hopeful they can pass the package as soon as Monday and send it to the House. What’s in and out of the bipartisan deal has drawn criticism and leaves few senators fully satisfied. The legislation includes funding for SNAP food aid and other programs while ensuring backpay for furloughed federal workers. But it fails to fund expiring health care subsidies Democrats have been fighting for, pushing that debate off for a vote next month.
Sabrina Siddiqui, National Politics Reporter at The Wall Street Journal, joins to break down the SNAP funding delays and the human cost of the ongoing shutdown.
Arguments at the Supreme Court have concluded for the day as the justices consider President Donald Trump's sweeping unilateral tariffs in a trillion-dollar test of executive power.
President Donald Trump said he has decided to lower his combined tariff rates on imports of Chinese goods to 47% after talks with Chinese leader Xi Jinping on curbing fentanyl trafficking.
The Federal Reserve cut its key interest rate Wednesday for a second time this year as it seeks to shore up economic growth and hiring even as inflation stays elevated. The move comes amid a fraught time for the central bank, with hiring sluggish and yet inflation stuck above the Fed’s 2% target. Compounding its challenges, the central bank is navigating without much of the economic data it typically relies on from the government. The Fed has signaled it may reduce its key rate again in December but the data drought raises the uncertainty around its next moves. Fed Chair Jerome Powell told reporters that there were “strongly differing views” at the central bank's policy meeting about to proceed going forward.
U.S. and Chinese officials say a trade deal between the world’s two largest economies is drawing closer. The sides have reached an initial consensus for President Donald Trump and Chinese leader Xi Jinping to aim to finalize during their high-stakes meeting Thursday in South Korea. Any agreement would be a relief to international markets. Trump's treasury secretary says discussions with China yielded preliminary agreements to stop the precursor chemicals for fentanyl from coming into the United States. Scott Bessent also says Beijing would make “substantial” purchases of soybean and other agricultural products while putting off export controls on rare earth elements needed for advanced technologies.
The White House budget office says mass firings of federal workers have started in an attempt to exert more pressure on Democratic lawmakers as the government shutdown continues.
