A Pennsylvania bakery known for its election cookie poll is swamped with orders

HATBORO, Pa. (AP) — A suburban Philadelphia bakery’s cookie “poll” that started during the 2008 presidential campaign as a joke between the owners and their customers has grown into much more.

Lochel’s Bakery in Hatboro is swamped with orders. People are driving from a couple hours away to buy the cookies in person and shipment orders are coming from as far away as Alaska.

The bakery sells 4-inch (10-centimeter) round sugar cookies, one with blue and white sprinkles and a Harris 2024 label on it and the other with red and white sprinkles and a Trump 2024 label on it.

The cookie poll started in 2008 and accurately predicted the winner the first three times, but not in 2020, when Republican Donald Trump lost the election for the White House to Democrat Joe Biden.

Kathy Lochel, whose husband is Lochel’s third-generation baker, said sales exploded that year, as customers bought thousands of cookies.

“It’s just a fun, non-stressful tally that we’re taking,” Lochel said. “It’s definitely not scientific. It’s just a delicious way I say to take the pressure off with what is going on with the election, all the ads, all the campaign stuff, just a cookie.

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