Fake LA Mayor Poll Showing Bass Leading Raman Was 'Social Experiment,' Company Admits
Median Strategies said it fabricated the poll as a social experiment to test how bogus polling spreads without 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.
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Median Strategies acknowledged that their poll on the Los Angeles City Hall race, which placed Bass in the lead, was not legitimate.
Washington Examiner
Conservative News DailyKaren Bass touted fake poll that showed big lead in LA mayoral race, firm says
The company behind a poll that Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass touted as showing her with a double-digit lead in the mayoral race said the survey was entirely fake and part of a social experiment. Last week, Bass made a post on X showing a poll putting her at 50% and her rival Nithya Raman at just 39%. “Doing the work, showing up, and gaining momentum. Let’s do this, LA!” her post said, with a picture of the poll results. There was only one problem…
Poll showing Bass leading L.A. mayoral race by wide margin was fake: company
Mayor Bass Falls for Fake Poll Showing Double-Digit Lead Over Nithya Raman
Mayor Karen Bass tweeted — and has since deleted — a fake poll showing her leading in the mayoral race by double digits, falling for a social experiment that was meant to highlight how unverified polling information spreads. Median Strategies, whose origins remain unclear, said they ran a poll that found Bass led opponent Nithya Raman by nearly 12 percentage points ahead of the November mayoral runoff. The company revealed Monday that the poll w…
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