Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass shared a fake poll on social media last week, claiming it showed her leading Council member Nithya Raman by 11 percentage points in the Nov. 3 mayoral runoff. The survey, which Bass posted on X (formerly Twitter), indicated she had 50% support compared to Raman’s 39%, with a 4.1% margin of error based on responses from 560 Los Angeles voters collected between July 30 and Aug. 5.
The poll was later revealed to be part of a social experiment by the firm Median Strategies, which issued a statement retracting all previously published results. The company confirmed the survey was fabricated to examine how unverified polling data spreads in political discourse. Median Strategies stated it was not seeking publicity and declined interviews regarding the experiment.
Bass deleted her original post after the poll was exposed as fake. A spokesperson for her campaign told the California Post that the survey had been reported by multiple outlets and called for those responsible to be prosecuted. The spokesperson stated, “Any bad faith attempts to influence elections should be investigated and prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law.”
The fake poll included detailed methodology and analysis, suggesting that Spencer Pratt’s primary voters—who accounted for 16% of respondents—were leaning toward Bass over Raman. This claim was amplified by headlines in the California Post, which reported that Pratt’s voters could decide the runoff. Median Strategies’ analysis framed Bass as the more moderate option compared to Raman, who is aligned with the Democratic Socialists of America.
The incident raises questions about the spread of misinformation in political campaigns and the verification of polling data. Median Strategies emphasized that its experiment was conducted to highlight vulnerabilities in how unverified information circulates in public discourse.