The ship entering Springfield Harbor is a reference to young Vito Corleone arriving at Ellis Island in The Godfather Part II with Springfield's immigration station looking the same as Ellis Island.
It is a popular myth that names were changed at Ellis Island. Names were simply checked against the ship's passenger list.
The colossal verdigris Lard Lad statue engraved with "Give Me Your Hungry" around the donut is a parody of the Statue of Liberty.
Devin refers to the "twinks" as one of the demographics of the school. He then clarifies that he means "kids that like Twinkies."
Bart plays the video game Donkey Kong. In the past, Quimby played the tabletop portable arcade version of Donkey Kong Jr.. Later, Joe Quimby III plays a VR version of the game, and his speech references what happens in the game.
A blue version of Donkey Kong and a parody of Pauline appear in the game.
Quimby III's attack ad parodies Lyndon B. Johnson's 1964 Daisy commercial, with Ralph in place of the girl counting and plucking petals.
The Quimbys driving off bridges may be a reference to Ted Kennedy's 1968 Chappaquiddick incident.
When running for election in 1982, Joe Quimby tells people that the rich deserve LeRoy Neiman paintings. LeRoy Neiman later attends the wedding of Joe Quimby and Beatrice Bouvier, where he paints the wedding.
Joe Quimby quotes E.T. in his election campaign, saying "As E.T. the extraterrestrial said: 'We phoned home.'" He then says that the voters told them that they have the "eye of the tiger," referencing the song "Eye of the Tiger" by Survivor.
Joe Quimby plays Donkey Kong Jr., a spin-off of Donkey Kong.
The "Bart For President" flyer features Bart performing a double-handed V sign, one of Richard Nixon's signature gestures.
In his counter-attack ad, Bart says "It's 3 a.m. Whose finger do you pull?". This is a reference to the "3 a.m. White House Ringing Phone" ad featured by Hillary Clinton during the 2008 Democratic Party presidential primaries. Clinton's ad, considered by many an attack ad, suggested that at an urgent moment, people need a trustworthy, competent leader to answer the call.
Joe Quimby III's full name, Joseph Fitzgerald Shriver Onassis Schlossberg Quimby III, is a play on words that combines the names and surnames of American politicians and businessmen related to the Kennedy family:
"Joseph" refers to Joseph P. Kennedy Sr., the ambitious patriarch of the Kennedy family.
"Fitzgerald" refers to John Fitzgerald Kennedy (JFK), former President of the United States.
