By the numbers: Political tweets turn blue in 2018

New data from Twitter shows the top 10 U.S. politicians who were most tweeted about in the few weeks after the midterm elections were Democrats, replacing a list that was once dominated by GOP lawmakers the majority of 2018.

Why it matters: The political clout and conversation is changing with its politicians. Republicans like Speaker of the House Paul Ryan and Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) who once dominated the subject of tweets, are now being replaced by nominated House speaker Nancy Pelosi and outgoing Texas Rep. Beto O'Rourke in the rankings, per Twitter.

By the numbers: Twitter tracked the most tweeted about elected officials or candidates before and after the midterms.

• The top five most tweeted about politicians during the year were Republicans, with Donald Trump holding the number one spot. After the election, spots two though six were Democrats — though Trump still held the top spot.
• Twitter users closely followed along with elections in states like Georgia and Florida that were too close to call after the polls closed.

Go deeper:

• Study: Most of Twitter's 2016 fake-news sources are still active
• Trump’s tweets are less read and influential than people may think