Last year the Washington Post looked at 2012 presidential election results and found that Mitt Romney won 16 of the 25 states that have at least one Waffle House. Of the states without a Waffle House, President Obama won all but eight. The conclusion: If there’s a Waffle House in your state, you’re more likely to support a Republican for president. Of course, correlation is not causation, but it’s intriguing to examine Waffle House’s political giving. According to Follow the Money, Waffle House has contributed $912,014 to political candidates in various races across the Southeast since 1992 (mostly to Georgia candidates, which makes sense considering the company is headquartered here). Governor Nathan Deal, Lieutenant Governor Casey Cagle, and Representative David Ralston have all received WaHo money. Waffle House has donated to only one Democrat—Richard Raymond, who ran for Commissioner of Public Lands in Texas. Contribution? Eight dollars. He lost.
This article originally appeared in our October 2015 issue.
