A Median Strategies poll in the Los Angeles mayoral race, published earlier this month, showed incumbent Mayor Karen Bass ahead of city council member Nithya Raman by nearly 12 points. Bass cited the poll as evidence to voters that she was on the path to victory in November.
“Doing the work, showing up, and gaining momentum. Let’s do this, LA!” Bass wrote in a now-deleted post on X.
Upon closer examination by The Los Angeles Times, however, the numbers didn’t seem to make any sense. When contacted by the publication about their polls, Median Strategies admitted the numbers were falsified.
She came out as against taco trucks in a city known for its street food. No surprise she’s citing fake polls.
“The mayor’s campaign promoted a fake poll without properly vetting the source,” a spokesperson for Raman’s campaign told KTLA. “It is the latest example of an administration that too often struggles to get the basics right — from posting about a pothole repair before the pothole was fixed to repeatedly giving Boyle Heights residents a Lineage cleanup deadline that the company now disputes. Angelenos deserve a mayor who gets the facts right, communicates clearly, and does the work before announcing the result.”
https://ktla.com/news/local-news/fake-los-angeles-mayoral-race-poll-bass-raman/
I wonder how much Bass’ super PAC paid to Median Strategies for this “study.” Corporate Democrats aren’t as bad as Republicans, but they’re pretty close.