Polling Company Collapses After Giving Francesca Hong a 23-Point Lead in a Race She Lost, Admits to ‘Bogus’ Data on LA Mayor Karen Bass
(Photo Credit: Politico)
A polling company that showed democratic socialist Francesca Hong (D) with a giant lead in the Democratic gubernatorial primary in Wisconsin — a race she ended up losing — has shut down following the big whiff.
Median Strategies had other issues too, with The Los Angeles Times reporting on Monday that the company had shared a “bogus” poll showing LA Mayor Karen Bass (D) had a nearly 12-point advantage on democratic socialist Nithya Raman in the city’s mayoral race.
Bass celebrated the poll on X on August 14 by posting, “Doing the work, showing up, and gaining momentum. Let’s do this, LA!” The post has since been deleted.
Median Strategies had said the poll was based on a survey of 560 LA voters between July 30 and August 5, but refused to answer questions when pressed by the LA Times for answers. It then closed up shop — right after claiming the operation was a stealth way of proving the polling industry is a big joke.
“Median Strategies was created as a short term social experiment to examine how purported polling information could enter and spread through the political information ecosystem without independent verification,” the company said in an email to the outlet. “We are not seeking publicity or attribution for the individuals involved and are declining interviews.”
Beyond the fake poll, Median Strategies had said Hong had a 23-point lead on David Crowley in the Democratic race to become Wisconsin’s next governor. But instead of smoking the competition, the Thanksgiving-hater-turned-lover lost to Crowley by a thin margin last week.
Median Strategies later admitted botching the race, posting to X on August 12, “We got Wisconsin wrong- and by quite a margin too.”
That post has since been deleted, and the only one remaining on its account is from the same day. It reads, “Median Strategies is committed to continuously refining our methods and presenting a clear image of elections and movement. Though it hasn’t occurred this time, we will truly learn and improve from this. Please stay tuned.”
Details on the operation are hard to come by. Median Strategies has just 23 followers on X, the company’s website was registered on August 10, and there is no information on where it was based, or how many people worked there.
The company’s bio on its X account said Median Strategies has “concluded its polling project” and told readers to check out its statement on its website. One problem, though: As of Tuesday morning, the website doesn’t work.
The post Polling Company Collapses After Giving Francesca Hong a 23-Point Lead in a Race She Lost, Admits to ‘Bogus’ Data on LA Mayor Karen Bass first appeared on Mediaite.