MTV Releases First Quarter FANTASY ELECTION '12 Statistics

Related: MTV

MTV today announced highlights from the "first quarter" of the "MTV Fantasy Election '12" season. "Fantasy Election '12" is a first-of-its kind web and mobile game that gives young people a new way to hold candidates accountable and rewards them for getting involved in the 2012 elections.

After the first two weeks of gameplay, President Barack Obama ranks as the highest scoring candidate, with Rep. Tim Griffin (R-AR, House, incumbent) and Linda Lingle (R-HI, Senate, open seat) ranking second and third, respectively. Governor Mitt Romney has the eighth highest score in the game so far, and Republicans dominate the scoreboard overall, claiming 14 of the top 20 scores to date. Governor Romney has generated more points in the category of constituent engagement than any other player in the game, with President Obama and Presidential candidate Gary Johnson coming in second and third in that category. Luke Messer (R-IN, House, open seat), Rep. Joe Wilson (R-SC, House, incumbent) and Senator Maria Cantwell (D-WA, Senate, incumbent) rank as the most transparent candidates in "Fantasy Election '12" so far.

The signature element of MTV's "Power of 12" campaign, "Fantasy Election '12" enables users to draft a team of candidates pursuing the presidency or congress, earning and losing points based on how their players behave in the real world. Candidate performance is determined by objective data, provided by a range of non-partisan organizations, in five key areas: constituent engagement, honesty, transparency, civility, and public opinion.

MTV plans to release new findings every other week from today through Election Day. Select "first quarter" findings include:

CANDIDATES

Fantasy Election '12 Scoreboard Leaders (Highest Total Scores To Date):
Barack Obama, Presidency (D): 10,867 points
Tim Griffin, House, Arkansas (R): 7,991 points
Linda Lingle, House, Hawaii (R): 7,745 points
Chip Cravaak, House, Minnesota (R): 7,727 points
Frank Pallone Jr., House, New Jersey (D): 7,513 points
Scott Rigell, House, Virginia (R): 7,345 points
Lynn Jenkins, House, Kansas (R): 7,099 points
Mitt Romney, Presidency (R): 6,997 points
Randy Forbes, House, Virginia (R): 6,801 points
Gary Delong, House, California (R): 6,791 points
Bill Flores, House, Texas (R): 6,537 points
Renee Ellmers, House, North Carolina (R): 6,423 points
Michael G. Fitzpatrick, House, Pennsylvania (R): 5,759 points
Linda McMahon, Senate, Pennsylvania (R): 5,741 points
Joe Wilson, House, South Carolina (R): 5,661 points
Lois J. Frankel, House, Florida (D): 5,495 points
Phil Roe, House, Tennessee (R): 5,425 points
Robert Menendez, Senate, New Jersey (D): 5,415 points
Maria Cantwell, Senate, Washington (D): 5,391 points
Dianne Feinstein, Senate, California (D): 5,315 points

Swing Candidates, week of 9/17 (Highest Point Swings up and down, week over week):
Accelerating:
Gary Johnson, Presidency (O) +1270
Jill Stein, Presidency (O) +480
Barack Obama, Presidency (D) +420
Tim Griffin, House, Arkansas (R) +380
Reid Ribble, House, Wisconsin (R) +350

Decelerating:
Mitt Romney, Presidency (R) -1170
Phil Gingrey, House, Georgia (R) -530
Connie Mack, Senate, Florida (R) -440
Tommy G. Thompson, Senate, Wisconsin (R) -420
Michael G. Riley, House, Rhode Island (R) -400

Most Engaged:
Highest Engagement Scores:
Mitt Romney, Presidency (R)
Barack Obama, Presidency (D)
Gary Johnson, Presidency (O)
Tim Griffin, House, Arkansas (R)
Lynn Jenkins, House, Kansas (R)
Robert Menendez, Senate, New Jersey (D)
Chip Cravaack, House, Minnesota (R)
George Allen, Senate, Virginia (R)
Linda McMahon, Senate, Connecticut (R)
Michele Bachmann, House, Minnesota (R)

Most Transparent:
Highest Transparency Scores:
Luke Messer, House, Indiana (R)
Joe Wilson, House, South Carolina (R)
Maria Cantwell, Senate, Washington (D)
Brian Doyle, House, South Carolina (D), Tim Murray, House, Oklahoma (D) and several others tied for fourth place

PLAYERS

In addition to earning points for candidate behavior, players of "Fantasy Election '12" can earn bonus points for getting involved with the election – including watching or reading campaign-related news, testing their political smarts or checking in to Election '12-related events. Just last week, players of "Fantasy Election '12" checked in more than 17,000 pieces of election-related content on partner news sites Buzzfeed.com/politics, POLITICO.com and Powerof12.org. New York, Florida and Minnesota have logged the most foursquare check-ins to date, and the top five shows or channels most checked in to via GetGlue are: