As reporters milled about the Capitol last month, pressing senators on Matt Gaetz’s nomination for Attorney General, I was fixated on one, far more pressing question.
“Senator, what’s your favorite candy from the candy desk?”
“Umm, Twix, it’s a good standby, nice to dip in milk,” replied Senator Thom Tillis of North Carolina.
How did I get to this point, chasing down lawmakers for candy tips? Well first, some context.
The candy desk has been a Senate institution since the 1960s. Established by California Republican Senator George Murphy in 1965, each Senator in that spot — conveniently located on the Republican side of the aisle, near an entrance to the chamber — has continued to keep it full of candy (often from their home state) for their colleagues to enjoy.
The current occupant is Sen. Todd Young (R-Ind.), who, like all his confectionery-proprietor predecessors, is a Republican. Past occupants included 2008 Republican presidential nominee John McCain (R-Ariz.), and prominent Tea Party conservative Rick Santorum (R-Pa.)
This partisan asymmetry in sugar proliferation has not gone unnoticed by the Democrats, as I learned when I spoke to Sen. Ben Ray Luján (D-N.M.) about his sweet tooth.
“I don’t dig into the candy desk, there’s candy in my own drawer,” Luján said. “There’s KIND bars, there’s chocolate, there’s Jolly Ranchers. Cory [Booker of New Jersey] has all the good stuff. Talk to Senator Booker, he has all the good stuff.”
The plot thickened. Not only does Young manage the long-standing official candy desk, but Luján also has his own private stash, in addition to an unlicensed Democratic Candy Desk belonging to Sen. Cory Booker (D-N.J.).
At least five Senate desks hold candy — desk assignments via the U.S. Senate. (Coby Potischman/MNS)
I spotted Booker on his way out of a vote and pressed him on the specifics of his cache.
“By the way, literally my favorite question of the last two months,” he replied with a grin. “And I want to go into this with great detail. New Jersey, we think we’re the candy confection state. The M&M was invented in Newark, New Jersey.”
His staffer made clear that because the Senator is vegan, his candy trove is solely for his colleagues to enjoy.
“Mars, Inc. finally has returned,” Booker continued. “As a former mayor of Newark, we got them to bring their company back. So in my desk, I have peanut and plain, but I’ve learned now that the caucus is about four to one peanut-preferring people — the triple-Ps.”
Booker’s Senate subway train arrived, but he held the door open, as he had more to share.
“So I’ve got a lot more peanut M&Ms for the P-cubed people in there. Occasionally, though, I put my favorite from before I became vegan, the best of all of the M&Ms — and this is a fact, not an opinion — is the peanut butter M&Ms. Far superior.”
I thanked Sen. Booker for his insight, and soon after, came across another revelation.
“Whatever these are,” Ohio Senator Sherrod Brown (D-Ohio) said, pulling a packet of Whoppers from his suit pocket. He had gotten them from neither Booker nor Young, but rather Minnesota Senator Tina Smith — yet another stash.
Sweetening the Deal (Produced by Coby Potischman/MNS)
I then came across Sen. Mazie Hirono (D-Hawaii), who told me that the M&Ms from Booker’s desk were her favorite. In fact, she said she had no idea that Todd Young’s Candy Desk even existed, and that she was only aware of Booker’s.
I knew that I had to find Sen. Young to get his thoughts.
Finally, I spotted him.
“It’s a pretty consequential question,” the Senator deflected when I asked about his favorite candy. “It’s kind of like asking me what my favorite child is. But what’s currently in it is the Rolos, Hershey’s with nuts, the Albanese gummi bears, and I think that’s the current stash. The other stuff is depleted, but we’re waiting on reinforcements.”
Young quickly shooed away another reporter pressing him about the nomination of Pete Hegseth to be Secretary of Defense, ushering me into his elevator to continue my line of questioning.
“Please go ahead, let’s talk about candy,” he said.
I asked whether any action should be taken against his rivals.
“Unsanctioned and unlicensed candy desks are not a thing that greatly concern me,” Young explained. “If enforcement action is necessary, I’ll pursue those channels, but my sense is that existing norms and traditions will prevail, and that Senator Booker would respect the institution of the United States Senate enough not to besmirch it, by cluttering us with substandard and unsanctioned candy desks.”
I thanked Sen. Young for his help and set my sights on Sen. Brian Schatz (D-Hawaii), who told me that Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups are his favorite, but — in a new twist of fate — that he doesn’t get them from either Young or Booker.
“There’s ones in the back that are not the personal desks,” he explained, revealing yet another Senate candy supply.
The rabbit hole continued. Not only does the Senate chamber contain Sen. Young’s official Republican Candy Desk and Sen. Booker’s unofficial Democratic Candy Desk, but also Sen. Luján’s large personal stash, Sen. Smith’s supply of Whoppers, and seemingly multiple desks that the Senate staff fill with Reese’s.
Unfortunately, neither the Senate library nor other lawmakers could offer much insight into who operates the Reese’s desks, but I knew that I had to keep going. Are any other desks filled with confections?
Sen. Cynthia Lummis (R-Wyo.), had some news.
“The candy desk that I have to stay out of is [Oklahoma Senator] Markwayne Mullin’s desk that’s next to mine on the floor of the Senate,” Lummis revealed. “Because he has his drawer full of candy, and so that’s the one that gets me, not the official one.”
What is in Mullin’s desk?
“Everything that you can imagine. Everything from Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups to Pez, it’s just loaded to the gills with candy,” Lummis explained. “And it’s really bad when we have debates on the floor and you have to be there and listen, and his drawer is right there by my right hand.”
Lummis said that the start of the 119th Congress next month cannot come soon enough.
“I’m very much looking forward to moving my desk in the upcoming session, not because of Markwayne but because of his candy drawer. I have to get away from it.”
