Connecticut Democratic Reps. Christopher Murphy (@ChrisMurphyCT) and Jim Himes (@jahimes) have upped the stakes in their collegial online ribbing, wagering a cool $100 (for charity) on who can reel in the most new Twitter followers by noon Friday.

The duo, who share abutting districts in the Nutmeg State, have been goading each other about their online constituencies for months, with Himes (joined Twitter on April 15, 2009; began contest with 5,085 followers) gleefully poking and prodding Murphy (joined Twitter on May 30, 2010; began contest with 3,040 followers) at least a couple of times per week.

Our favorite virtual smackdown to date happened on Wednesday, when Himes let loose this hashtag-tacular slap:

“Thanks @CalvinLawrence, my 5,000th follower! Big day. Take note @ChrisMurphyCT #imustbethebusdrivercauseimtakingyoutoschool.”

A Murphy aide suggested that his boss relishes the “healthy Twitter banter” and looks forward to raking in a few extra bucks for a local services group.

“When Chris wins, Himes will be donating to the Spanish Speaking Center of New Britain,” the aide said of Murphy’s charity of choice.

No word on why the rest of the Connecticut delegation was not invited to flex their follower-gathering muscles.

At press time, their other home-state Democratic colleagues had the following tallies of followers: John Larson (@repjohnlarson), 3,129; Joe Courtney (@repjoecourtney), 3,143, and Rosa DeLauro (@rosadelauro) 3,693.

Correction: Jan. 24, 2012

An earlier version of this article incorrectly stated when Connecticut Democratic Reps. Jim Himes and Christopher Murphy joined Twitter. Himes joined on April 15, 2009, and Murphy joined on May 30, 2010.