With Election Day rapidly approaching, anything that can stop you from staring at the latest polls and crying out from dread is a good thing—and for some residents of Hatboro, Pennsylvania (not to mention thousands of out-of-town visitors), the pleasant diversion du jour is following the viral “cookie election” that Lochel’s Bakery has been holding since 2008.
As in prior years, Lochel’s frosted, sprinkle-covered cookies have been iced with the names of this year’s candidates—and while the “Trump 2024” cookies are outselling the “Harris 2024” ones so far, owner Kathleen Romano Lochel urges one and all to remember that her cookie election is hardly The New York Times needle. “I always like to remind people that this is not scientific and it’s just a cookie,” she tells Vogue. (Nevertheless, it’s worth noting that Lochel’s cookie election reflected the real-life results in 2008, 2012, and 2016. Plus, the bakery’s location, in one of the United States’ most politically significant swing states, adds a little extra heft to the count’s import.)
This week, Vogue spoke to Romano Lochel about how this year’s recipe compares to 2020’s, the most exciting customer interactions she’s seen so far, and the difficulties she and her husband face running a small business.
Vogue: First off, the million-dollar question: What is this years cookie election looking like compared to last year’s?
Kathleen Romano Lochel: We have surpassed the Trump numbers from 2020 already, and so far, the Democratic numbers are only half of 2020’s numbers. We’re seeing a lot of new people in the store and shipping more across the country, including to Hawaii and Alaska.
Is there any difference in the flavor or design of this year’s cookies?
There’s no difference in recipe or taste. The only difference is that we added blue sprinkles and red sprinkles along with the logo color, but the shape is still a four-inch round cookie.
Why does it feel important to keep doing the cookie election every four years?
I was actually a little hesitant to do it this year, only because so many emotions and feelings come up when it comes to politics that I’m always afraid to offend people. But as in previous elections, the business that surrounds this and the new customers that we reach helps us with the longevity of our bakery. Ultimately, what made our decision for my husband and I is the fact that we depend upon this financial stability for our future—especially right now. We are seeing the highest costs on ingredients that we have ever experienced in our 19 years of owning this third-generation bakery.
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Have any interactions with your cookie customers been especially memorable this year?
Some of the craziest, most memorable and fun things would be people buying Trump cookies as wedding favors, having numerous veterans come in with stories for us about all the different presidents they’ve seen, people coming in dressed like their candidate of choice—it seems wild, but it’s happening! We have also been able to give back because of these cookies; we had a customer in North Carolina who had a lot of damage to her house and her community after Hurricane Helene, and we were able to collect $1,200 in gift cards for her from our customers. She actually spread them out to other people that she knew, but we also were able to give a $1,000 donation to Samaritan’s Purse to help other hurricane victims in North Carolina. We wouldn’t be able to financially do that had it not been for our cookie sales.
