Wedgewood Polling admitted it made up its numbers. This was not a mistake. It was an experiment. The group claimed it wanted to show how easy it is to fake polls. They said they wanted to highlight a lack of oversight. But real people paid the price for this stunt. Campaigns lost money. Donors pulled back. Reporters chased ghosts. The damage was immediate and severe.
The fake data helped Abdul El-Sayed in Michigan. It also boosted Francesca Hong in Wisconsin. These were high-stakes primary races. The numbers made far-left candidates look strong. They created a false sense of momentum. This misled everyone watching the trail. The New York Times cited these fake polls. So did Decision Desk HQ. Both outlets have since removed the data. The Times pulled fifteen fake surveys. Decision Desk HQ removed seventeen. They vetted the firm first. They asked about methods and funding. They accepted the answers. Now they have to retract them.
Mallory McMorrow felt the sting directly. She ran against El-Sayed in Michigan. Her donations dried up after the fake polls appeared. Reporters called her constantly. They asked why she should drop out. Strategist Jennifer Holdsworth ran a super PAC for McMorrow. She said donors pulled back funding. They did this while her campaign was outspent by eighty million dollars. That is a massive financial blow. Trust is now at an all-time low. McMorrow said we must rebuild it. She blamed the media for riding the drama. She called for better verification standards.
Mike Nellis is a veteran Democratic strategist. He worked for Kamala Harris. He called the pollsters absolute scumbags. He told Fox News they committed fraud. He said they should be prosecuted. He questioned if they would return the money. A GoFundMe raised five hundred dollars for Nebraska polls. That money came from real donors. It was raised under false pretenses. Independent analyst G. Elliott Morris was investigating them. He said they are trying to cover up fraud. He called it a social experiment excuse. Tommy Vietor, a former Obama staffer, agreed. He called the actions lying and fraud.
The fake polls also showed big leads in Texas. They showed James Talarico leading Ken Paxton. The margin was sixty-four percent to thirty percent. This data was clearly wrong. It skewed the view of the electorate. Republicans have long doubted poll accuracy. The 2016 polls were also wrong. Hillary Clinton looked ahead then too. But this is different. This was intentional deception. It was not a sampling error. It was a deliberate fabrication. The barrier to entry is too low. Anyone can claim to be a pollster. They can publish numbers without proof. This undermines the entire democratic process. Voters deserve real data. Candidates deserve fair play. The system failed here. We must demand better standards. We must verify every source. Trust must be earned, not faked.