Sen. Bernie Sanders (I., Vt.) has clear control over the conversation among Iowans on Facebook just hours before voters meet to caucus in the state.
Politico reported that data shared by Facebook indicates that Sanders captured 42.4 percent of the conversation on the social media site among users in Iowa in the 12-hour period between midnight and noon Monday local time.
Sanders, who is Hillary Clinton’s chief competition for the Democratic nomination, was discussed more than three times as much as the former secretary of state, who came in third in terms of mentions with 13.1 percent.
Sanders also bested businessman Donald Trump, who is pursuing the Republican nomination. While Trump came in second with 21.7 percent of the conversation among Iowans on Facebook, he only captured half the mentions that Sanders did.
Republican candidates Sen. Ted Cruz (Tex.), Sen. Rand Paul (Kent.), Ben Carson, and Sen. Marco Rubio (Fla.) all lagged behind with 11 percent or less each.
When conversations were narrowed to those concerning Democratic candidates only, Sanders dominated 73 percent of the Facebook discussions among Iowans to Clinton’s 25 percent. Sanders, who is a favorite among younger voters in Iowa, is locked in a tight race with Clinton in the key early-voting state.
Conversations about Clinton in the 12-hour period may have slanted negative; the third biggest issue discussed on Facebook in Iowa was Clinton’s State Department emails, around which 9 percent of conversations revolved.
Clinton has for months endured criticism for using a personal, unsecured email server to conduct government business. On Friday, the Obama administration confirmed that 22 Clinton emails contain top secret information, messages that the State Department has blocked from release because of their sensitive nature.