Donald Trump's campaign is getting some good news from Ohio.
A famous Cincinnati bakery, whose “Cookie Poll” has accurately predicted every election result since 1984, is currently Former President and Republican Candidate Leading Democrat Kamala Harris In his unscientific survey.
According to the latest table shared with the Post by Busken Bakery, Trump received about 54% support (2,953 cookies), while Harris received 39% (2,134 cookies), while an “independent” smiley-face cookie received 7% support (397 cookies).
The cookie poll will remain open until Election Day on Nov. 5, so the count reflects the results of “early voting” by those with a sweet tooth.
“We like to joke and say (customers) can stuff money in the ballot box,” Dan Busken, the bakery’s president and CEO, told The Post.
To provide data, customers must purchase a cookie of their favorite candidate online or at one of Busken’s four regional stores.
Each cookie purchase counts as one vote, and there is no limit to how many cookies a customer can purchase.
Despite the lack of electoral rigor, the “survey” has so far predicted ten elections with remarkable accuracy. The only result it missed was Democrat Joe Biden’s victory last year.
“Our results from our four retail stores cover the north, south, east and west parts of Cincinnati. So they're pretty diverse,” Busken said.
“It's certainly interesting that in a state like Ohio and a city like Cincinnati, this cookie poll has been so accurate over the last several years.”
Ohio has long been considered a quintessential bellwether state, selecting the winner of every election between 1964 and 2016.
That changed in 2020, when — in a case of life imitating pastry — Trump won Ohio but lost the election.
The candidate contest was conceived by Dan Busken's father and predecessor, Page, who had noted the success of similar “surveys” in the past, including one that predicted the Super Bowl.
“We hire a local artist (Jim White) who does caricatures and he creates a caricature of each candidate. And then we transfer that image onto the cookie,” Dan Busken explained. “It's meant to be fun.”
But not everyone is enjoying it due to the controversial nature of presidential politics.
“Some people this year — especially compared to past elections — have been more vocal and not so friendly about things,” Busken said. “But we're moving forward. We've done this for 40 years. We think it's fun.”
According to Busken, many of the bakery's partners have opted not to sell Candid Cookies this year, but sales are still looking good.
“We've had a lot more sales in the first two weeks than we did in the last election,” he said. “So I would say there's been an increase in the number of cookie voters.”
The contest between Trump, 78, and Harris, 59, is expected to be the closest election since the 2000 contest between Republican George W Bush and Democrat Al Gore, when the result was not decided for 36 days.
