What Was Everyone Drinking On Election Night?

Tensions were high going into midterms and many voters leaned on liquid courage to watch the numbers come in. But what were they drinking?

According to major alcohol delivery service Drizly, spirits saw the biggest sales number over election night, ringing up 46% of all sales. Wine also demanded a large percentage of sales across all segments with 40% of purchases on the platform going towards vino — a shift in choices as wine was the top selling category of the 2020 election. Beer commanded just 12% of sales.

“While wine led the charge as the leading category during the 2020 election on Drizly, spirits finished first this year for the midterm elections, ringing up 46% of overall share of sales on the platform on November 8th compared to wine (40%) and beer (12%),” says Liz Paquette, Head of Consumer Insights at Drizly.

Tito’s continued to be Drizly’s top-selling brand over elections nights. Veuve Clicquot was the second best-selling product on the platform. (Clearly, people were in the mood to celebrate.)

Who was doing all the drinking? Blue and swing states were ordering the most alcohol, with noteably large increases coming in from Ohio (31%), Florida (15%), Arizona (12%), California (10%), and New York (8%). Sales were compared to the previous Tuesday.

“Similar to the 2020 election,” Paquette describes, “this year’s midterm elections saw movement on Drizly, with swing states like Ohio and Florida seeing an uptick in orders of 31% and 15%, respectively, compared to the average of the previous four Tuesdays.

“When looking deeper on a state-by-state level on November 8th, red or white wine were the top-selling subcategory for states like California, New York, Ohio, Massachusetts and Colorado on Drizly, while vodka held strong as the best-seller in states like Georgia, Arizona and Florida.”

Pennsylvania? They were drinking White Claw — hard seltzer dominated the state’s sales.