Poll showing LA Mayor Karen Bass leading Nithya Raman by a wide margin was fake: Company
Median Strategies said the fabricated results were a short-term social experiment to show how unverified polling data can spread without independent verification.
- On Monday, Median Strategies acknowledged that a widely circulated poll showing Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass leading City Councilwoman Nithya Raman was entirely fabricated as part of a "short-term social experiment."
- The bogus survey claimed Bass held a nearly 12 percentage point lead over Raman, asserting that most supporters of former candidate Spencer Pratt would switch to the incumbent rather than abstaining.
- Last week, Mayor Bass touted the data on social media to demonstrate momentum, but her campaign subsequently deleted the post after the fabrication came to light.
- City Controller Kenneth Mejia, who had dismissed the survey as a "push poll," joined Raman's campaign spokesperson Liz Garcia in criticizing the administration for lacking due diligence in their communications.
- Median Strategies, which had falsely claimed to be an independent research firm, previously released a fabricated poll for a Wisconsin gubernatorial race, establishing a pattern of deceptive data.
71 Articles
71 Articles
Bedford Gazette
What to know about the fake election poll numbers shared and retracted by a mysterious company
A mysterious political firm admitted to fabricating multiple election polls this month. None of the fake results from a company called Median Strategies appeared in Associated Press coverage. The surveys claimed to evaluate support in the Democratic primary for governor…
Speaking of Bad Polls…
The poor quality of polling with regard to the midterm primaries has been widely commented on. Largely, that reflects the fact that primaries are inherently small turnout, volatile, and hard to poll. But this year there was something else going on: So this is pretty wild: A polling firm that came out of nowhere to show Francesca Hong with a 23-point lead over David Crowley in the Wisconsin primary has shut down and said its whole operation was …
Coverage Details
Bias Distribution
- 35% of the sources lean Right
Factuality
To view factuality data please Upgrade to Premium
