Alex Leeds Matthews - Data Editor
Alex Leeds Matthews
Data Editor
Alex Leeds Matthews is a Data Editor for the Data and Graphics team at CNN Digital.
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School shootings in the US: Fast facts
Nov 12, 2024
CNN is tracking school shootings across the United States. Follow the numbers here.
Democrats have outspent Republicans on the airwaves since Harris entered race, but GOP is poised for late push
Oct 26, 2024
Democrats have outspent Republicans in TV advertising for the presidential race by wide margins in key swing states over the three months since Vice President Kamala Harris launched her campaign, buoyed by record-breaking grassroots fundraising and outside groups funded by deep-pocketed donors.
In race for Congress, Democrats burn through cash while outraising Republicans in final election sprint, new filings show
Oct 25, 2024
Staring down the prospect of losing the Senate and amid a tight race for the House, Democrats are burning through cash in the final sprint to Election Day, new federal filings show.
Elon Musk keeps up pro-Trump spending spree as Harris continues to dominate money race, new filings show
Oct 25, 2024
Elon Musk plowed nearly $44 million in October into a super PAC working to restore Donald Trump to the White House – pushing the billionaire’s total donations to the group he established to benefit the former president to nearly $119 million, new campaign finance reports show.
Here’s how Trump, Harris and their allies have altered their ad spending strategies in October
Oct 19, 2024
In the first two weeks of October, Donald Trump and his allies directed about a third of all their spending on broadcast TV advertisements to ads about transgender health care, a significant increase reflecting a major tactical shift from previous months’ ad expenditures.
Elon Musk and other billionaires invest staggering sums into electing Trump, plus other takeaways from third-quarter filings
Oct 16, 2024
Some of the world’s wealthiest figures – led by conservative donor Miriam Adelson and tech billionaire Elon Musk – have funneled tens of millions of dollars into political groups in recent months to boost Donald Trump’s White House bid, new reports filed Tuesday with federal regulators show.
Democrats outspend Republicans on airwaves in crucial House races, with California and New York leading the way
Oct 15, 2024
Democrats have outspent Republicans on television advertisements in the races that will be crucial to deciding control of the US House of Representatives, with California and New York seeing the highest spending by the two parties, according to a CNN analysis of advertising data from the first full month following the end of primary season.
How Harris and Trump are shifting their TV advertising in sprint to Election Day
Oct 6, 2024
The campaigns of Kamala Harris and Donald Trump made strategic adjustments to the content of their TV advertisements between August and September, a CNN analysis of ad tracking data shows, amid a contentious fight to define the transformed race for the White House.
Labor Day air travel caps record-setting summer, in three charts
Aug 30, 2024
The TSA expects more than 17 million passengers over the holiday weekend, with screenings projected to peak at 2.86 million on Friday.
How the Biden-to-Harris switch turbocharged the presidential money race
Aug 23, 2024
The dramatic change at the top of the Democratic presidential ticket unleashed a flood of donations to the campaign account Kamala Harris inherited from Joe Biden, swamping even Donald Trump’s strongest fundraising days, a CNN analysis of newly filed campaign reports shows.
Harris erases Trump’s cash edge while RFK Jr. faces dwindling resources, new filings show
Aug 21, 2024
Kamala Harris supercharged Democratic fundraising in July after taking over the top of the party’s presidential ticket, new federal filings show, helping erase what had been an emerging cash advantage for Republican nominee Donald Trump.
Hosting the Olympics has become financially untenable, economists say
Aug 19, 2024
The City of Lights will be in the spotlight for the next few weeks as Paris serves as center stage to incredible performances and achievements of the human body, mind and spirit.
Fast Facts: Wildfire trends in the US
Jul 25, 2024
A warming climate and dry conditions have contributed to longer and more intense wildfire seasons in the US over the years. Track the trends here.
Biden outraises and outspends Trump in June as questions loom about the president’s political future
Jul 21, 2024
President Joe Biden outraised – and dramatically outspent – the campaign of Republican rival Donald Trump last month, new campaign reports filed Saturday show, raising questions about how long the president’s political team can operate at full throttle if donations dry up.
Vulnerable Democrats outraise GOP opponents again, Trump sees Silicon Valley cash surge and other second-quarter takeaways
Jul 16, 2024
Democrats outraised Republicans in competitive congressional races during the second quarter of the year, new fundraising reports show, putting down-ballot candidates on solid financial ground as Democratic concerns grow over President Joe Biden’s candidacy.
America’s favorite Fourth of July tradition, the hot dog eating contest, in 3 charts
Jul 3, 2024
Americans consume more than 20 billion hot dogs each year, most of them during the summer months. But nothing tops July Fourth on Coney Island.
Trump’s conviction spurred massive fundraising surge, new reports show
Jun 21, 2024
The former president’s hush money verdict led to the largest single day of fundraising for his White House campaign this cycle, according to a CNN analysis.
Trump outraises Biden again and erodes president’s financial edge
Jun 21, 2024
Former President Donald Trump and his political operation outraised President Joe Biden for the second month in a row in May, as a flood of donations after Trump’s criminal conviction quickly eroded the financial advantage Biden held for much of the campaign cycle.
Illegal border crossings would have triggered the new Biden policy years ago
Jun 8, 2024
A new Biden policy on illegal border crossings would have gone into effect for at least the last three years, migrant encounters data shows.
Maybe you should stay home? 4 charts break down a busy Memorial Day weekend travel outlook
May 27, 2024
Memorial Day weekend travel has returned to pre-pandemic levels, according to data from the FAA and travel agency AAA.
Biden’s fundraising slowed in April, but his stockpile of available cash is much larger than Trump’s, new filings show
May 21, 2024
President Joe Biden’s political operation raised $51 million in April – a significant decline from its March fundraising, according to totals released by his campaign Monday.
It’s been 70 years since Brown v. Board of Education. The US is still trying to achieve the promise of integration.
May 17, 2024
The landmark Brown v. Board of Education ruling may have paved the way for more equal and integrated schools, but fierce – and continued – opposition to integration means the ruling in no way assured the end of segregated education in the United States.
Map: Where university protesters have been arrested across the United States
May 10, 2024
CNN is tracking where arrests have been made in a wave of pro-Palestinian campus protests rippling across US universities.
Millions more go to Trump legal expenses as Biden and Democratic Party expand campaign cash advantage
Apr 21, 2024
Donald Trump’s leadership PAC spent as much money as it took in last month, with his legal bills remaining a top expense as the former president grappled both with the aftermath of losing a civil fraud case and prepared for the start of a historic criminal trial in a Manhattan court.
Trump fundraising intensifies, Democrats post big hauls and other first-quarter takeaways
Apr 16, 2024
Former President Donald Trump’s fundraising operation picked up the pace during the first three months of the year while Democratic Senate and House candidates reported massive quarterly hauls as the battle for Congress takes shape, new federal filings show.
How women’s NCAA basketball and Caitlin Clark broke viewership records, in three charts
Apr 10, 2024
The NCAA women’s basketball championship drew nearly 19 million viewers, surpassing the men’s final and shattering records thanks to Iowa star Caitlin Clark.
Women’s college basketball: How Caitlin Clark rewrote the rules
Apr 3, 2024
When the Iowa star gets drafted, the record-setting TV viewership she fueled in college and income may translate to the WNBA.
Visualizing the Baltimore Key Bridge collapse
Mar 28, 2024
CNN visualizes how a cargo ship crashed into the Francis Scott Key Bridge in Baltimore, leading to its collapse, with maps and illustrations.
About
Alex Leeds Matthews is a Data Editor for the Data and Graphics team at CNN Digital. She works with her team to find and analyze data and report out data-driven visual stories.
Prior to joining CNN, she was a data editor with US News & World Report, where she managed the publication’s government rankings projects.
After she earned her masters’ degrees in public health and journalism from UC Berkeley in 2020, Matthews worked with the New York Times’ Pulitzer-winning COVID-19 team, assisting with data and graphics coverage, investigations of the pandemic and other news events, including the January 6 Capitol riots.
Matthews is originally from California and currently based out of Washington DC.
