On Election Night, America Turned To Booze
As we watched the midterm elections unfold, beer just wasn’t enough.
In recent years, just about every election has had many of us glued to our screens, stressing out over the impending results. To relieve some of that tension during the returns, some of us turn to alcohol.
Yes, there are other ways to get through the evening, such as newsroom pizza or surrounding yourself with people who share your values. But whether or not you partake, booze is undeniably a staple of this stress-inducing night. Thanks to sales data from on-demand alcohol delivery service Drizly, we have some idea of just how many drinks people are consuming on election night.
What people were drinking on Election Day 2022
Across the country, it seems like everyone came to the realization that beer just wasn't going to be enough to quell the sense of dread. Drizly's report, sent to The Takeout, indicates that on Tuesday, spirits accounted for 46% of all sales. Wine came in second, comprising 40% of sales, and beer trailed far behind at 12%.
Among the spirits purchased for delivery via Drizly on Tuesday night, Tito's Vodka was the top-selling brand overall, continuing its reign as an Election Day champion. Not only that, but Drizly notes an uptick in sales in certain states compared to the previous four Tuesdays, suggesting that people were stocking up for watch parties of some sort.
In heavily Democratic states and in swing states, sales of alcohol increased on election night. For example, in Ohio, sales went up 31%, compared to only a 15% rise in Florida (though perhaps with Tropical Storm Nicole on the way, residents had bigger things to deal with). Meanwhile, Arizona, California, and New York saw an increase of 12%, 10%, and 8%, respectively.
What was surprising, even to Drizly, was the second highest selling alcohol brand of the night. While some election viewers were surely bracing for disappointment, others must have had victory in their sights from the beginning, because luxury champagne brand Veuve Clicquot second only to Tito's in overall sales. Hopefully after the returns came in, most customers considered the bubbly money well spent.