Obama tops McCain in Pumpkin Poll

WEST HAVEN — It may not be scientific, but Ryan Wickstrand’s presidential pumpkin poll predicts Barack Obama will triumph over John McCain … at least on Halloween.

The 30-year-old mastermind behind West Haven-based Zombie Pumpkins, an online business that sells stencils for pumpkin carving, keeps a running tally on his Web site of who is the more sought-after candidate.

So far it’s Obama over McCain, 63 percent to 37 percent.

“I’m no political expert,” Wickstrand cautions. “I don’t know, but for some reason I think that the people who carve pumpkins are a cross-section of America, so I would not be surprised if the percentages are similar.”

With Election Day only four days after Halloween, Wickstrand will find out soon enough.

“It’s a big election. We are going to have someone new next year,” he says. “Seems only right to get in on the media buzz.”

Wickstrand’s business works like this: About 180 of his hand-drawn designs are available at www.zombiepumpkins.com. Users can order, pay for and download stencils of their favorite designs — anything from Frankenstein to Ozzy Osbourne to Harry Potter — and use them to carve pumpkins. The business is in its sixth year, and Wickstrand counts 450,000 downloads so far this year alone. His is not the only pumpkin stencil Web site, but he likes to think his is unique in that he designs all the stencils himself. Read more …