Taylor Swift inspired 65,000 people to register to vote, says Vote.org

Taylor Swift may have risked her reputation to endorse two Democratic congressional nominees in Tennessee, but according to Vote.org, her Instagram post Sunday has inspired a surge in voter registration.

"Thank God for Taylor Swift," Kamari Guthrie, director of communications for the voting nonprofit, told Buzzfeed News, stating that more than 65,000 people registered to vote in the 24-hour period following Swift's post.

According to Guthrie, Vote.org had its second-busiest day of the year after Swift's post with 155,940 unique visitors to its website, making it the site's biggest day since National Voter Registration Day on Sept. 25, when the site saw 304,942 unique visitors, up from a daily average of 14,078 visitors.

It seems Swift's post has specifically inspired new voters in her home state of Tennessee. Of the 5,183 new registrations in Tennessee so far this month, at least 2,144 came in the last 36 hours, an increase from the 2,811 voters who registered in September and 951 in August.

In an Instagram post Sunday, Swift endorsed Democratic U.S. Senate candidate Phil Bredesen, who is running against Republican nominee U.S. Rep. Marsha Blackburn in a closely watched race.

"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," the 28-year-old pop star wrote.

President Trump responded Monday by calling Blackburn "a tremendous woman."

"I’m sure Taylor Swift doesn’t know anything about her," Trump said. "Let's say that I like Taylor's music about 25% less now."

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I’m writing this post about the upcoming midterm elections on November 6th, in which I’ll be voting in the state of Tennessee. 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. 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. I believe in the fight for LGBTQ rights, and that any form of discrimination based on sexual orientation or gender is WRONG. I believe that the systemic racism we still see in this country towards people of color is terrifying, sickening and prevalent. I cannot vote for someone who will not be willing to fight for dignity for ALL Americans, no matter their skin color, gender or who they love. Running for Senate in the state of Tennessee is a woman named Marsha Blackburn. As much as I have in the past and would like to continue voting for women in office, I cannot support Marsha Blackburn. Her voting record in Congress appalls and terrifies me. She voted against equal pay for women. She voted against the Reauthorization of the Violence Against Women Act, which attempts to protect women from domestic violence, stalking, and date rape. She believes businesses have a right to refuse service to gay couples. She also believes they should not have the right to marry. These are not MY Tennessee values. I will be voting for Phil Bredesen for Senate and Jim Cooper for House of Representatives. Please, please educate yourself on the candidates running in your state and vote based on who most closely represents your values. For a lot of us, we may never find a candidate or party with whom we agree 100% on every issue, but we have to vote anyway. So many intelligent, thoughtful, self-possessed people have turned 18 in the past two years and now have the right and privilege to make their vote count. But first you need to register, which is quick and easy to do. October 9th is the LAST DAY to register to vote in the state of TN. Go to vote.org and you can find all the info. Happy Voting! 🗳😃🌈

A post shared by Taylor Swift (@taylorswift) on Oct 7, 2018 at 4:33pm PDT