What food is favored by Republicans and Democrats?

Have you ever wondered how much money political campaigns spend on fast food or which restaurants are most popular among candidates? You’re in luck because The Washington Post’s data department dove into campaign expense reports to answer these questions.
The Washington Post used spending data from campaigns starting January 2023 through Sept. 20, 2024, and looked at every food related receipt during this time period.
Only restaurants where at least $5,000 of campaign money was spent were included in the data.
Following these parameters, the Post created a list of around 500 restaurants, from more than 21,000 receipts with a total cost of $13 million.
Since January 2023, federal candidates have spent $35,900 at McDonald’s and former President Donald Trump’s campaign is responsible for about 86% of that amount or $31,000, per The Washington Post.
In general, Republicans have spent around 28 times as much at McDonald’s as Democrats have.
In July, Newsweek reported that Trump’s campaign spent over $35,000 at fast-food restaurants in May with the largest portion of that being spent at McDonald’s.
Newsweek found that more than $4,700 was spent at the chain, calculating the campaign could have purchased around 500 meals from McDonald’s in May.
The Washington Post found that Republicans spent more on fast food than Democrats, outspending them 18-to-1.
Meanwhile, Democrats enjoyed fast-casual dining.
The most popular fast-casual food chain for Democratic presidential campaigns was Panera Bread where Biden and Harris collectively spent over $7,000.
While the Republican campaigns spent significantly more than Democrats on fast food, Democrats led in amount spent on food delivery, per The Washington Post.
Since January 2023 campaigns overall have spent about $360,000 on four food delivery platforms, Doordash, Uber Eats, Grubhub and Instacart.
For food delivery, Democrats have spent over $80,000 more than Republicans.
The most used food delivery platform for Democrats was Uber Eats with $79,000 spent, it was closely followed by DoorDash with $76,000 spent.
In third and fourth place was Instacart where Democrats spent $45,000 and Grubhub with $6,000 spent.