Oooh, look what she made you do.
According to Vote.org, 28-year-old country-to-pop superstar Taylor Swift swayed more than 65,000 nationwide to sign-up to vote in the 24 hours following her surprise Instagram endorsement of Democrat Phil Bredesen in the Tennessee U.S. Senate race last week. But according to new a new poll released Tuesday by Alabama-based Cygnal, a Republican polling and research firm, Swift’s “big reputation” did little to actually move the needle in the race against Republican Marsha Blackburn.
With only 23 days left until the November 6 midterm elections, Cygnal found more than 86 percent of those polled say their vote hasn’t changed, despite 82 percent of respondents indicating they were aware of the endorsement altogether.
“Millennial and Gen Z voters are highly aware of the endorsement of the Democrat, but it did little to move their vote preference,” said Matt Hubbard, VP of Research & Analytics at Cygnal. “Swift’s endorsement is providing a boost to get-out-the-vote efforts, but we’re seeing minimal impact on the race.”
The statewide survey, conducted October 13-14, of 414 likely general election voters under the age of 35 in Tennessee, shows Democrat Phil Bredesen (50 percent) with a 14-point lead over Republican Marsha Blackburn (36 percent) in this age segment. 10 percent of young voters remain undecided.
“Anytime a celebrity endorses a candidate or speaks publicly about their political views, there’s always a risk of alienating fans on the other side of the aisle,” said Brent Buchanan, Cygnal’s President and Founder. “In this case, Swift’s endorsement may lead to ‘Bad Blood’ with her conservative fans.”
Respondents that were swayed by Swift’s choice to ‘Speak Now’ were split between the candidates, with 5 percent saying that they would now support Bredesen, and 6 percent indicating they would now vote for Blackburn.
The Swiftie Effect
“Swifties” or Swift superfans, respondents who attended 4-5 of her concerts, heavily favor Bredesen: 48 percent-26 percent. His lead swells to +52 among concert-goers who’ve attended at least six of Swift’s shows, but the race is tighter among less passionate fans. Respondents who have attended only one of her concerts are evenly split between the two U.S. Senate candidates, with Bredesen polling +1.
Swift’s endorsement
This was Swift’s first political endorsement. The star has stayed silent on her political views for years.
“In the past I’ve been reluctant to publicly voice my political opinions, but due to several events in my life and in the world in the past two years, I feel very differently about that now,” Swift wrote in her Instagram post. “I always have and always will cast my vote based on which candidate will protect and fight for the human rights I believe we all deserve in this country.”
It remains to be seen whether this will be the first and last of Swift’s endorsements, or if she’ll do it over and over and over again.
Read Swift’s full Instagram endorsement below: