Story perspectives

Median Strategies Withdraws Fabricated Poll Showing Karen Bass Ahead

8/19/2026

Left

Median Strategies Withdraws

Median Strategies announced it has closed and withdrawn its polls that showed Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass and former Wisconsin candidate Francesca Hong ahead.
The fabricated California poll was amplified by The California Post and social media, while The New York Times excluded it for unanswered methodological questions.
Alex Stack demanded prosecution of deceptive poll actors.
Thirty new pollsters launched this year.

Right

Median Strategies Closes

Median Strategies announced it has closed and withdrawn its polls that showed Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass and former Wisconsin candidate Francesca Hong ahead.
The firm said it would publish no further polls, declined interviews, and shut down its operations.
The poll showed Bass ahead of Nithya Raman by 12 points, 560 respondents, 4.1% margin.
Result gave Hong a 20-point lead over Crowley.
Median Strategies publishes no more polls, closed.

Center

Median Strategies Fabricates

Median Strategies announced it has closed and withdrawn its polls that showed Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass and former Wisconsin candidate Francesca Hong ahead.
Los Angeles City Controller Kenneth Mejia labeled the survey a “push poll,” after Median Strategies admitted it was fabricated.
Both the Bass and Raman campaigns demanded investigations into possible bad-faith election influence.
Raman’s campaign criticized Bass’s team for failing to vet the poll’s source.

Blindspot

Los Angeles City Controller Kenneth Mejia described the fabricated survey as a “push poll,” and Raman’s campaign accused Bass’s team of failing to vet the poll’s source.
Within this story's sources, this angle appears mainly in Center-leaning coverage and receives less attention in Left-leaning and Right-leaning coverage.

History

Historical Context

The disputed 2000 Florida recount, settled by Bush v. Gore with a 537-vote margin, spurred the 2002 Help America Vote Act’s $380 million upgrade of voting systems. Today, Median Strategies’ fabricated Los Angeles poll, denounced by Rep. Karen Bass, Councilmember Kenneth Mejia, Francesca Hong and Alex Stack, echoes that crisis, reviving calls for stricter poll methodology and enforcement.

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Median Strategies Withdraws

Median Strategies announced it has closed and withdrawn its polls that showed Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass and former Wisconsin candidate Francesca Hong ahead.
The fabricated California poll was amplified by The California Post and social media, while The New York Times excluded it for unanswered methodological questions.
Alex Stack demanded prosecution of deceptive poll actors.
Thirty new pollsters launched this year.

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