On Twitter, GOP racks up more followers than Dems

Republicans in Congress follow and are followed by more Twitter accounts than their Democratic counterparts, according to an analysis by The Washington Post. 

The analysis also found seven of the 10 most followed lawmakers are Republicans, as well as the most active tweeters. 

{mosads}However, Senate Democrats tend to tweet more than any other group in Congress. 

Republicans are followed by a median of 23,252 accounts, compared to 19,429 followers for Democrats. On the House side, Republicans have a median of 6,872 followers, compared to 6,015 followers for Democrats. 

As the newspaper points out, a 2012 study found that nearly four in 10 followers of members of Congress were either inactive of fake accounts. 

Republicans tend to follow 613 people on median, compared to 517 for Democrats — a difference of 94 followers. 

Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.), the former GOP presidential candidate in 2008, has the most followers (his account also topped the list of inactive or fake accounts in the 2012 study). He and freshman Sen. Cory Booker (D-Mass.) are the only members with more than a million followers. 

Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) is the most followed House member. 

Democratic senators tend to tweet more than anyone, with a median count of 1,792, compared to 1,605 for Senate Republicans. House Republicans have each sent a median of 1,282 tweets and Democrats have accumulated 986. 

Booker, known for his active presence on Twitter, has sent the most tweets. 

The Washington Post found only eight members do not have accounts. The numbers gathered over the weekend were based on accounts that appeared the most active. A number of members have separate campaign and congressional accounts.