Fake Los Angeles mayoral poll exposed as social experiment by Median Strategies

Median Strategies released a poll indicating Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass was ahead of Councilmember Nithya Raman by roughly 12 percentage points ahead of the November 3 runoff, and that most voters who backed Spencer Pratt in the primary intended to support Bass. The poll claimed to be based on 560 respondents surveyed between July 30 and August 5 with a 4.1% margin of error. After media inquiries, the company said the poll was a “short term social experiment” designed to test how unverified polling data can circulate, and it refused further comment.

Bass’s campaign initially shared the results on X before removing the post, while a spokesperson warned that malicious election influence should be prosecuted. Controller Kenneth Mejia noted the poll, recalling past polling misses. Median Strategies, a newly created account with about 20 followers, has also posted other inaccurate polls, including one on the Wisconsin gubernatorial race.