New York Post By Emily Jacobs
A Pennsylvania bakery that has successfully predicted the last three presidential elections with its cookie poll has revealed the final tally in its Trump-Biden contest ahead of Election Day.
The results as of Sunday afternoon, while not the official tally, were the final numbers released by Lochel’s Bakery of Hatboro, Pa., before Americans find out who has won the actual presidential election.
They show President Trump leading former Vice President Joe Biden handily, with a staggering 27,903 red Trump cookies sold compared to just 5,114 blue Biden cookies.
“We had one guy drive twice from Staten Island for them,” bakery owner Kathleen Lochel said in an interview with Fox News.
Lochel says her political cookies, which she also sold during the 2008, 2012 and 2016 presidential elections, are each counted as a vote when they are sold.
Her bakery maintains a tally of the number of cookies sold for each candidate, adds them up and reveals the final number after the election has been called.
This year, she offered updates on the tally as they counted, which saw a surge after Trump’s son Eric Trump became aware of the bakery’s contest.
The younger Trump traveled to Hatboro to meet Lochel and place his own order for Trump cookies.
Lochel wasn’t there, but her husband was, she told Patch. He gave Trump a tour of the bakery during his surprise visit.
“He just showed up to buy cookies unannounced. He was most respectful and we welcome everyone regardless of political affiliation,” she told the outlet.
Asked by Fox News on Monday morning when the final cookie tally would be revealed, Lochel said, “We plan on tallying them up tomorrow night, to do our final tally. But right now, Donald Trump is still in the lead … we’ve sold about 28,000 [Trump] cookies to 5,000 [of Biden’s].”
Pennsylvania is a must-win battleground state for both candidates.
As for when results in the state can be expected, “the overwhelming majority” of ballots will be counted by Friday, despite polls closing at 8 p.m. ET Tuesday, according to Pennsylvania’s Commonwealth Secretary Kathy Boockvar.
This is thanks to the US Supreme Court’s decision to allow state election officials to continue counting absentee ballots received by this Friday — three days after Election Day.
Still, the wait could go on beyond Friday, Boockvar told the Philadelphia Inquirer, mentioning at one point during an interview “by the weekend.”
Unlike some other battlegrounds, the Keystone State does not allow for counting to begin prior to 7 a.m. Tuesday, also increasing the wait time. Additionally, about half of the state’s voters are expected to be voting by absentee ballot.
The final deadline to certify the election results is Nov. 23, though it is not expected to require nearly that much time.
