Lakeview sweet shop created cookies for each presidential candidate and will keep a tally of the best-selling cookies.

Dawn M. Aulet, Community Contributor

Posted Sat, Oct 12, 2024 at 9:09 am CT

Windy City Sweets, in Lakeview, is running its official, unofficial cookie campaign. Each cookie is a vote for that candidate and the store will release its "votes" on election day.

One could say what John Manchester is doing is making this election more palatable. And, in a way, that is what he is seeking to do.

“Our big thing is, we wanted something that’s positive because the election and everything is so polarizing,” he said. “We created two positive images.” We want to bring lightness to a very serious and polarizing choice,” he said. ”Just a positive picture, a lighthearted and a positive spin in the election.”

That lightness is cookies. Two, to be specific. One with the likeness of Vice- President Kamala Harris and one for former President Donald Trump.

“We actually had an artist develop pictures for us,” he said. “We are actually able to print them. “We have a food printer that we purchased. We are the official unofficial presidential cookie campaign,” he said.

Manchester co-owns Windy City Sweets with his wife Jill and they created the cookies and, as each sells, they will keep a tally.

“Each cookie that is sold will be a vote for that candidate,” he said. “That’s exactly it. I created a spreadsheet. It’s just on an Excel spreadsheet.”

Cookies are $5 each and can be ordered in whatever quantity or combination one wants. Additionally, Windy City Sweets, which is in the Lakeview neighborhood of Chicago, ships internationally.

“We will ship up and to the election,” Manchester said. “Then, our next thing that we’re thinking about is to have a presidential cookie to celebrate the president afterwards.

“We will sell them, if somebody wants them still, after the election, but they would not count towards the tally. We will release the tally on the election date.”

In this particular case, voting early and voting often will hit the sweet spot.

“You could actually buy a vote,” Manchester said. “In true Chicago fashion, you really can vote early and vote often and buy your vote.”

Interested in additional treats when you cast your vote in the presidential cookie campaign?

The family-owned store makes its signature chocolate blend on site and follows a family recipe for Manchester’s Old English toffee, a candy that is based on a proprietary recipe that came from Manchester’s great-grandmother Francis Manchester.

Windy City Sweets is located at 3308 N. Broadway in Chicago. The store can be reached at 773-477-6100 or email them at Info@windycitysweets.com.