Twitter has 100 percent participation by new Senate

All 100 members of the 113th Senate now have a presence on Twitter, counting both unofficial and official accounts.

Sen. Roy Blunt (R-Mo.) announced in a tweet Thursday that every GOP Senator is now on Twitter thanks to the addition of a long-standing holdout, Sen. Jim Risch (R-Idaho), who joined Thursday as @SenatorRisch with a tweet opposing “increased gun control.”

Excited to welcome my friend & colleague @senatorrisch to #Twitter today. Every GOP Senator has a presence on Twitter.

— Senator Roy Blunt (@RoyBlunt) January 17, 2013

Blunt’s count includes accounts that are both official and unofficial (personal accounts that senators continue to use in office unaffiliated to their official Senate pages or campaign sites).

Counting that way, 100 percent of the Senate is now using Twitter.

At least three freshman Democratic senators — Sens. Tammy Baldwin (Wis.), Martin Heinrich (N.M.) and Heidi Heitkamp (N.D.) — have yet to set up a new Twitter account to suit their new office, but still have a campaign presence with varying degrees of activity.

Blunt also welcomed several new Republican senators to Twitter in a second tweet on Thursday.

RT @senate_gops Newest members of the Senate Republican conference: @sentedcruz @senatorfischer @senatortimscott @jeffflake. Follow & RT

— Senator Roy Blunt (@RoyBlunt) January 17, 2013

The House and Senate leadership have stepped up to promote the accounts of new members. Creating official Twitter accounts for use by their congressional office has become one of the many necessary steps new members take during their first few weeks after taking office.

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