A small-town bakery in a key swing state is using cookies to add extra sweetness and competition to the upcoming presidential election.
Lochel’s Bakery in Hatboro, Pa., is tracking the sales of their red Trump cookies and blue Harris cookies as customers from across the country are placing orders to show support for their candidate.
As of Friday morning, the shop has sold a whopping 5,200 Trump cookies vs. 500 Harris cookies.
“I think that people support Trump all over,” owner Kathleen Lochel told “Fox & Friends First” Friday morning.
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Lochel’s Bakery in Hatboro, Pa. has sold candidate cookies since the 2012 election/ Screengrab from ‘Fox & Friends First’ (Instagram @Lochelsbakery)
Lochel said her customers are expressing how high costs under the Biden-Harris administration are impacting them.
“A lot of people are upset right now with the cost of things, they’re venting to us,” she said, adding that the bakery stays neutral to all and loves all of their customers regardless of political opinions.
Grocery costs have also put a strain on the shop’s operations.
“Prices are very high for us,” Lochel said. “We have not raised our prices in three years on almost all items. We’re trying to maintain the prices and have consumer confidence. But we’re getting to the point right now where my husband says this can’t continue. Things are just way too high.”
Former President Trump and Vice Preident Kamala Harris sparred on the economy during the ABC News Presidential Debate on Tuesday, Sept. 10. (Screenshot: Fox News simulcast of ABC News Presidential Debate)
Lochel credited the cookie competition for saving the bakery in 2020 during the COVID-19 pandemic.
“In 2020, when the pandemic hit, we were almost at a point where we’re like, ‘Are we going to close the bakery? What’s going to happen?’ And I sat the employees down, and we all agreed to do the cookies again.”
“If it was not for these cookies, red and blue, we would not be here today from the cookies in 2020.”
She added that Eric Trump coming to her shop “unexpectedly” to purchase the cookies also helped her business survive during the pandemic.
“The Trump name actually brings in a lot of business for many people,” she said.
One-third of the cookies have been shipped to outside states, with the remaining staying in the Keystone State. Lochel said almost all the shipments within the battleground state have been red.
“We’ve only shipped seven packages of blue in the state of Pennsylvania,” she said.
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Lochel has hosted the informal poll since 2012, predicting the outcome of three of the last four elections, Fox29 reported. The winning streak ended in 2020 after 31,804 Trump cookies were sold over 5,750 Biden cookies.
The bakery has emphasized the lighthearted nature of the project multiple times, writing in a recent social media post to “Keep calm… its a cookie.”
Fox News’ Alexander Hall contributed to this report.
Elizabeth Heckman is a digital production assistant with Fox News.
