Hillary Clinton is clobbering Republicans in key early-state data

By Brett Logiurato

Democratic presidential frontrunner Hillary Clinton is dominating Facebook conversation in three key early-voting states, according to data released by the company on Friday.

The data released Friday measures the number of interactions - likes, posts, comments and shares - and the number of unique people that produced them in the early-voting states of Iowa, New Hampshire, and South Carolina.

Here's a quick breakdown of Clinton's numbers in each of the three states:

Iowa: 289,000 interactions from 66,000 people New Hampshire: 145,000 interactions from 32,000 people South Carolina: 460,000 interactions from 104,000 people

The numbers for Clinton, the former US secretary of state, far surpass the next closest candidate or likely candidate - which, depending on the state, is either fellow Democratic candidate and US Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vermont) or Republican challenger Sen. Rand Paul (R-Kentucky).

Clinton almost doubles Sanders' interactions in Iowa and more than triples Paul's interactions in South Carolina. But Sanders comes much closer in New Hampshire, perhaps as a reflection of his growing momentum in the state. Two recent polls have shown him tightening the gap with Clinton considerably in the Granite State.

Paul outpaces other Republican candidates in each of the early-voting states. Here's a quick breakdown of his numbers:

Iowa: 98,000 interactions from 24,000 people New Hampshire: 59,000 interactions from 24,000 people South Carolina: 132,000 interactions from 34,000 people

Typically trailing right behind Paul among Republicans are former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush, US Sen. Ted Cruz, former Texas Gov. Rick Perry, and retired neurosurgeon Ben Carson.

The data measures interactions from May 13 to June 13. In that time, Clinton, Perry, Santorum, Graham, O'Malley, and Pataki announced their candidacies.