By Richard Lee
New York’s gubernatorial candidates are tweeting more about crime and public safety than any other topic.
That was the conclusion of an informal study conducted by students in a Media & Democracy course at St. Bonaventure University.
During the first five days of August, the students logged and coded tweets from Democratic Gov. Kathy Hochul and her Republican challenger, Lee Zeldin. They logged tweets from candidates’ campaign accounts, as well as their government accounts.
Of the 79 tweets from the candidates, 20 were about crime and public safety, 11 from Hochul, nine from Zeldin.
The next highest totals were health with 14 tweets, followed by campaign events with 8, transportation/infrastructure, with 7; economy/taxes and the environment, both with 6.5; foreign policy, 3; corruption/ethics, 2, and education, 1. Eleven tweets were coded “other” because they did not fit into specific public policy categories. One tweet was about both the economy and the environment, resulting in two categories with half numbers.
Richard Lee, executive director of the Jandoli Institute, covered politics and government as a reporter and later served as Deputy Director of Communication for two New Jersey governors. To read more of Lee’s ‘”On the Road to Albany” columns, follow the Jandoli Institute on Twitter and Facebook.
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