It’s No Trick: New Jerseyans Pick Reese’s as Their Favorite Treat

Snickers and candy corn round out voters’ top three Halloween candies, according to a Rutgers-Eagleton Poll

Make sure to stock up on Reese’s candies if you don’t want Halloween leftovers, according to the latest Rutgers-Eagleton Poll.

Twenty-one percent of New Jersey registered voters rank Reese’s as their top pick when asked to name their favorite Halloween candy. Snickers came in a distant second at 11%, followed by candy corn (9%) and KitKats (7%). Twix and chocolate in general each garner 6%, followed by M&M's (4%), Hershey’s and Milky Ways (3% each), and Butterfingers (2%), which round out the top 10.

“Candy corn has historically been a more divisive treat,” said Jessica Roman, director of data management and analysis at the Eagleton Center for Public Interest Polling (ECPIP) at Rutgers University-New Brunswick. “While it made the top three in this poll, the rest of the results suggest that sweet-toothed voters have a penchant for chocolate-based candies. Nary a sour nor fruity candy cracked the top 10.” 

Reese’s comes out on top regardless of partisanship, gender, race and ethnicity, income, and education. Only one age cohort, those 50 to 64, doesn’t put Reese’s as their favorite. Instead, 15% of this group say Snickers is the best candy, followed closely by Reese’s (13%) and candy corn (13%). 

“With days to go to Election Day, partisans can agree on one thing – Reese’s is No. 1,” said Ashley Koning, an assistant research professor and director of ECPIP. “Democrats, independents, and Republicans alike say Reese’s is their favorite Halloween candy.” 

Results are from a statewide poll of 795 voters contacted via live calling and texting from Oct. 3 to Oct. 17. This registered voter sample has a margin of error of +/- 4.6 percentage points.