A Sweet Predictor

In a final nod to the election season, Helen Grace Chocolates on Wednesday offered the results of its “highly unofficial” jelly bean poll, which employees say has managed to predict election results consistently.

The poll works like this: Customers get a ballot and a sack of jelly beans when they buy $5 worth of candy (or they can buy a $1 sack of jelly beans and get a ballot). Customers voted only for governor and senator.

The final results from the candy maker’s nine stores in Orange and Los Angeles counties:

Davis, 129,800; Lungren, 92,600.

Boxer, 129,700; Fong, 87,200.

Democrats had the lead, employees say, almost from the day the poll began in mid-October. “The first day, we thought the Republicans were in the lead,” said Megan Kritz, assistant manager of the Brea Mall store. “But quickly it became the Democrats.”

Customers were allowed to cast ballots once a day, said Jeff McDaniel, director of retail sales for the Rancho Dominguez-based candy maker. “The customers really started getting into it, especially the last weekend,” he said. “They were coming in [to cast] extra votes.”

The poll was launched during the Kennedy-Nixon campaign in 1960.

Last month, sales rose about 20%, McDaniel said, but he believes the jump was tied largely to the purchase of Halloween candy.

Leslie Earnest covers retail businesses and restaurants for The Times. She can be reached at (714) 966-7832 and at leslie.earnest@latimes.com.