2.1 Billion Political Messages Have Reached Americans Since Mid-September
RoboKiller's Political Insights Report reveals that over 2 billion political messages were sent to Americans in the past 30 days ahead of the Presidential Election. Republicans led with approximately 1.5 billion text messages, compared to Democrats' 615 million. Political robocalls fell to around 1 million for Republicans and just over 900,000 for Democrats. The rise of peer-to-peer texting has influenced this trend, effectively increasing voter turnout, particularly among younger voters. Political messaging is expected to continue until polls close on November 3rd.
- Republicans sent 1.5 billion political text messages, significantly impacting outreach.
- Peer-to-peer texting is a clever workaround for campaigners, aiding in effective voter interaction.
- Political texting has previously proven to influence voter turnout positively.
- Political robocalls saw a decline, potentially reducing outreach effectiveness to older voters.
SOUTH AMBOY, N.J., Oct. 22, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- RoboKiller's Political Insights Report reveals over 2 billion political messages were sent to Americans in the past 30 days as part of campaign tactics. With the Presidential Election just 12 days away, RoboKiller's proprietary political message trends show Republicans have sent 1.4 billion political texts, which is significantly more than Democrats' total of 615 million text messages. Over
Political robocalls are on the decline this political season with Republicans placing 1 million robocalls and Democrats placing just over 900,000 in the last 30 days. RoboKiller attributes the decrease to spam calls causing fewer Americans to answer unknown phone calls.
TOTAL POLITICAL MESSAGES, LAST 30 DAYS | |||
POLITICAL MESSAGE | REPUBLICANS | DEMOCRATS | TOTAL |
Political text messages | 1,487,344,525 | 615,034,363 | 2,102,378,888 |
Political robocalls | 1,007,783 | 900,121 | 1,907,904 |
A new technology called peer-to-peer texting has played a significant role in the massive number of political texts Americans are receiving this election season. Peer-to-peer tech sends large amounts of text messages from a unique phone number, rather than an autodialer. Texts from an autodialer that have not obtained the recipient's prior consent are illegal - making peer-to-peer a clever workaround for campaigners to send unsolicited political texts.
Sending texts in droves is not the only reason political parties are increasingly adopting political messaging as a major campaign tactic. In past presidential elections, political texting has been shown to influence voter turnout, particularly for younger voters. With COVID-19 hindering in-person campaign efforts such as live events or door knocking, Americans can expect to continue to receive political texts in large quantities until the polls close November 3rd.
TOP 5 MOST POLITICALLY TEXTED STATES, LAST 30 DAYS | |
STATE | TOTAL POLITICAL TEXTS |
California | 234,998,871 |
Texas | 219,314,179 |
New York | 183,606,656 |
Florida | 138,998,709 |
Pennsylvania | 94,295,766 |
TOP 5 MOST POLITICALLY ROBOCALLED STATES, LAST 30 DAYS | |
STATE | TOTAL POLITICAL ROBOCALLS |
Texas | 209,528 |
Wisconsin | 180,687 |
California | 174,564 |
Pennsylvania | 81,248 |
Florida | 54,434 |
Looking at these trends in more detail, it is clear both parties are targeting their efforts at 2020 swing states and those that have started voting. Since June 2020, Republicans have been sending more messages while Democrats have been trying to cover more ground in recent months.
In September 2020, Democrats sent 902 million text messages compared to 120 million in June which is an increase of over
SWING STATE POLITICAL TEXTS, LAST 30 DAYS | |||
STATE | REPUBLICAN TEXTS | DEMOCRAT TEXTS | 2016 ELECTION |
Texas | 162,872,885 | 56,441,294 | Republican |
Florida | 100,205,582 | 38,793,128 | Republican |
Pennsylvania | 63,342,398 | 30,953,368 | Republican |
Georgia | 54,357,011 | 20,400,832 | Republican |
Ohio | 50,947,467 | 19,895,726 | Republican |
North Carolina | 40,279,630 | 19,255,974 | Republican |
Michigan | 35,186,262 | 17,600,926 | Republican |
Wisconsin | 29,656,293 | 16,442,315 | Republican |
Arizona | 37,374,012 | 15,613,034 | Republican |
Nevada | 27,027,387 | 10,793,321 | Democrat |
Minnesota | 23,839,112 | 10,618,248 | Republican |
Iowa | 19,078,550 | 6,792,657 | Republican |
New Hampshire | 4,439,841 | 2,117,652 | Democrat |
While political robocalls may not be the primary campaign focus in 2020, they are still relevant and often serve as a way to reach older voters. Democrats are targeting states that voted Republican in 2016, but Republicans have still sent 200,000 more total robocalls this year.
SWING STATE POLITICAL ROBOCALLS, LAST 30 DAYS | |||
STATE | REPUBLICAN ROBOCALLS | DEMOCRAT ROBOCALLS | 2016 ELECTION |
Texas | 63,132 | 198,095 | Republican |
Wisconsin | 180,118 | 78,979 | Republican |
Pennsylvania | 81,248 | 74,284 | Republican |
Arizona | 41,568 | 38,908 | Republican |
Florida | 51,107 | 37,801 | Republican |
North Carolina | 29,206 | 28,111 | Republican |
Georgia | 30,008 | 22,155 | Republican |
Nevada | 22,256 | 20,308 | Democrat |
Minnesota | 23,867 | 18,411 | Democrat |
Ohio | 19,431 | 16,840 | Republican |
Michigan | 17,479 | 11,510 | Republican |
Iowa | 13,150 | 9,690 | Republican |
Missouri | 12,104 | 8,765 | Republican |
New Hampshire | 3,348 | 2,661 | Democrat |
RoboKiller has also found an increase of political text messages in states that are actively voting. RoboKiller believes this is because political text messages are a more effective method of increasing voter turnout when compared to robocalls. As more states begin and continue to vote, Americans can expect an increase in political messages to follow.
POLITICAL TEXT MESSAGES IN STATES ACTIVELY VOTING, LAST 30 DAYS | ||
STATES | REPUBLICAN TEXTS | DEMOCRAT TEXTS |
Arkansas | 20,524,721 | 2,627,828 |
Alabama | 20,982,381 | 6,070,079 |
Colorado | 18,011,274 | 8,783,225 |
D.C. | 1,589,722 | 1,211,298 |
Florida | 100,205,582 | 38,793,128 |
Hawaii | 4,934,383 | 2,310,139 |
Iowa | 19,078,550 | 6,792,657 |
Lousianna | 17,969,566 | 3,976,495 |
Massachusetts | 22,156,311 | 12,145,701 |
Maryland | 19,241,082 | 12,607,705 |
North Dakota | 4,604,589 | 635,993 |
Nevada | 27,027,387 | 10,793,321 |
New York | 122,269,882 | 61,336,774 |
Oklahoma | 21,159,276 | 4,696,929 |
Utah | 10,527,732 | 3,115,420 |
Wisconsin | 29,656,293 | 16,442,315 |
West Virginia | 13,486,535 | 4,937,368 |
Generating voter support in swing and active voting states is not the only focus for political messaging; a large number of these texts and robocalls are still requesting donations. States like California and New York are likely being targeted because they provide a higher probability of donations and/or voter turnout due to population density and higher average household incomes.
TOP 5 MOST POLITICALLY TEXTED NON-SWING STATES, LAST 30 DAYS | ||
STATE | REPUBLICAN TEXTS | DEMOCRAT TEXTS |
California | 154,679,458 | 80,319,413 |
New York | 122,269,882 | 61,336,774 |
Illinois | 50,815,972 | 20,987,823 |
New Jersey | 47,443,823 | 21,020,369 |
Virginia | 40,504,304 | 19,255,974 |
TOP 5 MOST POLITICALLY ROBOCALLED NON-SWING STATES, LAST 30 DAYS | ||
STATE | REPUBLICAN ROBOCALLS | DEMOCRAT ROBOCALLS |
California | 166,049 | 95,798 |
New York | 30,248 | 28,841 |
New Jersey | 21,094 | 18,984 |
Illinois | 20,344 | 19,214 |
Tennessee | 13,968 | 12,185 |
Both Republicans and Democrats appear to be focusing the least on notoriously Democratic and Republican states respectively, as well as states with a lower population density that do not play as critical of a role in the 2020 presidential election.
3 LEAST POLITICALLY TEXTED STATES, LAST 30 DAYS | ||
STATE | REPUBLICAN TEXTS | DEMOCRAT TEXTS |
Vermont | 1,284,299 | 1,049,390 |
Washington | 34,334,704 | 14,081,146 |
Wisconsin | 29,656,293 | 16,422,315 |
3 LEAST POLITICALLY ROBOCALLED, LAST 30 DAYS | ||
STATE | REPUBLICAN ROBOCALLS | DEMOCRAT ROBOCALLS |
South Dakota | 2,619 | 1,691 |
New Hampshire | 3,348 | 2,661 |
Hawaii | 1,191 | 794 |
More information regarding RoboKiller's findings, including state-level data and tips on how Americans can unsubscribe from any unwanted political messages are available upon request.
About RoboKiller:
RoboKiller is one of the top iPhone utility apps in the US, helping users block over 500M telemarketers and robocalls from calling their phones. With over 5 billion robocalls made to US consumers each month, phone spam continues to be the #1 complaint to the FCC, driving hundreds of thousands of RoboKiller app downloads per month. RoboKiller, a Teltech brand, is a division of Mosaic Group, an IAC Company (NASDAQ: IAC).
RoboKiller employs an unbiased, anonymous machine-learning based approach to understand political message trends. The estimates above are based on RoboKiller's proprietary data and user feedback and are for information purposes only. Robocall trends, text trends, and featured data are not a representation of any single political party, person, or organization's campaign efforts.
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SOURCE RoboKiller
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