Here’s what Americans were drinking on election night

What do Americans like to drink on election night while they are waiting for the polls to close and the votes to be counted – whether in celebration of victory or, in defeat, trying to drown their sorrows?

Tuesday, the United States held a hotly-contested midterm election – the one when there is no Presidential contest – to see which party would rule the two houses of Congress and to fill many state and local offices. And Drizly, the big online alcohol ordering and delivery platform, kept tabs on what people were drinking across the country.

What people were ordering, Drizly reports, was as divided as the country’s politics.

“On a national level, spirits finished first among segments, ringing up 46 percent of sales, followed by wine with 40 percent and beer with 12 percent,” says Drizly spokesperson Isabelle Fama. “While longtime champ Tito’s Vodka was Drizly’s top-selling brand overall, in an election night surprise, Veuve Clicquot took the number 2 spot.” As an aside, Fama adds, “Clearly, some were in a pop-corking mood.”

There are two major political parties in the U.S. – the Democrats, headed by President Biden, and the Republicans, whose titular head is ex-President Donald Trump. Through the years, the states that vote Democrat are called “blue states,” and those that vote Republican are called “red states.” During an election when the polls are predicting a close vote for the Presidency or for control of Congress, closely contested races are referred to as “swing states.”

“Blue and swing states saw the biggest uptick in orders,” Fama reports, “with notable increases coming from Ohio at 31 percent, Florida, 15 percent, Arizona, 12 percent, California 10 percent and New York, eight percent – all compared to sales on the previous four Tuesdays.

“Vodka was the top-seller in battleground states like Georgia, Nevada, Arizona and Florida while red and white wine flowed most in California, New York, Massachusetts, Ohio and Colorado,” she continued.

Probably the state that featured the dirtiest television adverts on both sides was Pennsylvania, the state where President Biden was born, although he went on to represent neighboring Delaware in Congress. In Pennsylvania, Democrat John Fetterman battled with Republican TV personality Dr. Oz – Mehmet Cengiz Öz – for a U.S. Senate seat.

Drizly reports the drink of choice couldn’t have been more fitting for the state’s brawling mood.
“Pennsylvania loves the likes of White Claw,” Fama says of the aptly named alcoholic seltzer water manufactured by Mark Anthony Group. “Overall, hard seltzer was the state’s top selling category last night.”

Whether victors or vanquished, on Wednesday morning the two political groups were alike. Both were looking for an effective hangover cure.