As was noted by the the Sacramento Bee’s Capital Alert and the The Oakland Tribune’s Josh Richman, legendary online communicator Debra Bowen took to twitter to say she was “giving serious thought” to running in the special election for the 36th congressional district seat being vacated by Rep. Jane Harman.

And netroots and progressive leaders immediately began signing a petition urging her to run. Calitics readers will recognize many of the names, people like Brian Leubitz  and Robert Cruickshank and David Dayen and Dante Atkins and Matt Lockshin.

Here are the benchmark numbers online:

Twitter:

Janice Hahn: 635 Followers

Debra Bowen: 3,693 Followers

Facebook:

Janice Hahn: 916 “likes”

Debra Bowen: 5,054 “likes” (or loves?)

As Dayen pointed out, about “progressive favorite” Debra Bowen:

She would have the highest name recognition and the most passionate support if she entered the race, without question.

Indeed. If you’re on twitter, you can sign the petition here