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Karen Bass Campaign Admits to Using Fabricated Poll Results in Los Angeles Mayoral Race

Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass declared that a new poll showed her campaign gaining momentum, only for the results to be revealed as fabricated by the polling firm Median Strategies. The poll, which purported to show Bass leading her rival Nithya Raman by approximately 12 percentage points, was shared by the Bass campaign on social media and reported by several news outlets before the truth emerged. Median Strategies admitted the results were a hoax, explaining that the firm was created as a short-term social experiment to examine how unverified polling information spreads through the political ecosystem. The company has since shuttered its website and concluded its project. The Bass campaign has deleted the social media post and defended its actions, noting that the poll was reported on by multiple news outlets. Meanwhile, Nithya Raman's campaign criticized the Bass team for failing to vet the firm. City Controller Kenneth Mejia, who endorsed Raman, also criticized the poll as a 'push poll,' highlighting the need for voters to scrutinize unvetted data in a competitive election.

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