Story highlights
1.5 million American adults are expected to dress in political Halloween costumes this year
It's unusual for political costumes to be popular in non-presidential election years
Politics has "turned into mainstream popular culture," said a spokeswoman for the National Retail Federation
Political Halloween costumes are popular in election years. In off years, not so much.
But 2017 could be an outlier.
According to data from the National Retail Federation, 1.5 million American adults are planning to dress in political costumes this Halloween, down from 1.7 million last year.
This year, politics has “turned into mainstream popular culture,” said Ana Smith, a spokeswoman for the National Retail Federation, and they’re still in the top 10 for most popular costumes.
Data from Google showed Wonder Woman is the most searched Halloween costume in America this year, while only two political entries made their list – President Trump at No. 71 and “dead presidents” is at No. 521.
Smith said the discrepancy between their data and Google searches could be because online searching typically shows consumers trying to determine if they can make a costume themselves or pricing. For political costumes, people may be repurposing costumes from last year.