The tradition did not become publicly known until the mid-1980s, when Washington Senator Slade Gorton revealed it in announcing that he would be sitting at the candy desk.

[1] Aside from Murphy, a total of 18 senators have maintained the candy desk tradition, including John McCain, Harrison Schmitt, and Rick Santorum, who stocked it with confectionery from his home state of Pennsylvania, including from the Hershey Chocolate Company.

[4] Paul Fannin, Harrison Schmitt, Roger Jepsen, and Steve Symms all respectively continued the new candy desk tradition after Murphy's term was over.

[5] In 1997, the candy desk was referenced by Kit Bond during a debate over the National Defense Authorization Act for fiscal year 1998.

[9] During this period, Hershey shipped roughly 100 pounds of chocolate and other candy four times a year for Santorum to fill the desk with.

"We were pleased to be a small part of sweetening up congressional proceedings" said Kirk Saville, a spokesman for Hershey.

[9] The desk returned to Pennsylvania control in 2015 under Sen. Pat Toomey, who also stocked it with Hershey products, as well as Pennsylvania-made Mars brands.

Wyoming, the state he was representing, has no members of the National Confectioners Association, and therefore no candymakers large enough to donate hundreds of dollars of candy to fill the desk.

This is so senators can "offer visitors home-grown snacks, such as Florida orange juice or Georgia peanuts.

[18] Most senators enter the chamber through this door, which is adjacent to elevators leading to one of the stops on the United States Capitol subway system.

[21] A rolltop desk located on the front wall, belonging to the United States Senate Democratic Conference Secretary, is also filled with sweets.

[14] Until he left the Senate in 2015, Jay Rockefeller was responsible for collecting the money and purchasing the candy.