iCampaigning? Candidates turning to phone apps

ATLANTA — Running for office? You can make an app for that.

Maintaining a Facebook page and Twitter feed has become standard practice for political candidates seeking to get their message out. And some are even creating iPhone applications so supporters can follow their campaigns and make contributions on the go.

The method has grown in popularity — especially since President Barack Obama's widely chronicled and successful embrace of social media during the 2008 campaign. He even had a sophisticated iPhone app that let people get in touch with local organizers and find local events.

"The demand for it, to be able to do it, is going to grow a lot, particularly if it's shown that apps are an effective way to raise money for a political campaign," said Peter Scheer, executive director of the California-based First Amendment Coalition.

Doug MacGinnitie, a Republican running to be Georgia's secretary of state, has an iPhone app that provides information about his campaign and helps supporters donate money. Friends approached him about making one for the campaign last year, and it's been downloaded roughly 200 times, he said.

"I don't think it's going to change the course of history, but I've gotten comments from people who think it's cool," MacGinnitie said. "It reinforces the notion that I come from the business world, which is generally quicker to embrace technology."

Minnesota House Speaker Margaret Anderson Kelliher, who's running to be the Democratic nominee for governor, has an app that lets people follow her calendar, read news releases, familiarize themselves with her background and make campaign contributions.

"It shows that our campaign is a modern campaign," said Kelliher spokesman Matt Swenson. "We're connecting with people where they are right now through the phones in the palms of their hands."

Illinois state Sen. Dan Rutherford, who's the Republican candidate for state treasurer, said his campaign has been using so many other forms of social media — even announcing his candidacy via Twitter and Facebook — that an iPhone app was the next logical step.

"This is another medium for our supporters to track us, and we have people in house who can do it, so it was common sense to have one," he said.

Apple says it doesn't keep track of how many campaign apps — or any other kind of app — are among the roughly 225,000 in its app store.