Poll showing LA Mayor Karen Bass leading Nithya Raman by a wide margin was fake: company

Mayor Karen Bass inadvertently shared a fake poll that claimed she had a double-digit lead over her opponent, Nithya Raman, in the upcoming mayoral election. The company behind the poll, Median Strategies, revealed Monday that the poll was actually part of a "short term social experiment" aimed at demonstrating how unverified polling information can spread through the political information ecosystem.

The poll, which claimed to be based on a survey of 560 Angelenos between July 30 and August 5, stated that Bass led Raman by nearly 12 percentage points. The company also noted that 16% of respondents said they planned to vote for Spencer Pratt in the primary election, with 85% of those voters intending to back Bass in the general election.

Additionally, 7% of respondents said they would support Raman. Bass initially endorsed the poll's findings in a since-deleted tweet, stating, "Doing the work, showing up and gaining momentum. Let’s do this, LA!" Following the poll's release, both Bass's and Raman's offices criticized the promotion of the fake poll, with Raman's office highlighting the administration's tendency for basic errors.

Median Strategies subsequently confirmed that the poll's data should not be considered reliable and disclosed that no individual involved in the project received any compensation or financial benefit.