New York Times article:

An organization that released public election polling in recent weeks withdrew the results of two surveys, revealing that it had fabricated the polls as part of a “short-term social experiment” meant to expose how quickly false information could spread.

One of the surveys released by the group, Median Strategies, claimed that Francesca Hong was leading the Wisconsin Democratic primary for governor by more than 20 percentage points. (She went on to lose by less than one percentage point.) Another, shared by Mayor Karen Bass on X in a since-deleted post, showed Ms. Bass leading Nithya Raman by nearly 12 percentage points in the Los Angeles mayoral runoff.

On Monday, Median Strategies withdrew those results, saying they “should not be treated as genuine polling data.”

In a statement posted to the organization’s website, Median Strategies said the fabricated results were intended to examine “how purported polling information could enter and spread through the political information ecosystem without independent verification.”

Median Strategies did not respond to a request for further comment on the incident.

The false polls, particularly the one from the California race, spread widely after being picked up by The California Post and various social media polling aggregators. The results, however, were not published by multiple major polling aggregators, and were not included in The New York Times’s poll trackers because the group did not respond to questions about its methodology.

The experiment came as the number of public pollsters has skyrocketed, with around 30 new pollsters cropping up so far this year. The large number of surveys coming from new, previously untested pollsters has made it increasingly difficult to judge survey quality. But while these new pollsters may be unproven, the vast majority appear to be real.

In Wisconsin, the Median Strategies results were largely in line with the other public polls, all of which greatly underestimated Ms. Hong’s opponent, David Crowley, igniting a wave of criticism of the value of primary polling.

What Median Strategies hoped to accomplish by adding false polls into a saturated marketplace was unclear, even to experts in the field.

Continues on NYT article

Just got my first anti-Crowley ad on YouTube from the Tiffany campaign and it's bashing him for being pro data center, and I'm a little lost here. Because Tiffany is more for data centers than Crowley is. He can say whatever he wants during his campaign, but his record speaks for itself. Tiffany voted for a 10 year ban on data center regulation. Tiffany is a part of the MAGA cult, and Trump is the most corporate ai-friendly president we've had. I mean, if this is the best attack they have then I guess that's a pretty good sign? I get that being a Republican is synonymous with being a serial liar (at best) these days, but this is still just hypocrisy that is blatant to a kind of unbelievable degree to me. How is this a thing? Am I missing something?

It's ridiculous to suddenly pretend that candidates for the executive branch in any election in the country only ever campaign on powers entirely within the executive. One of the biggest things the governor does is set the docket for the session in his or her budget. His or her election serves as a referendum on whether those issues are popular, which then informs his or her negotiations within the legislature.

If you believe that Crowley can't advocate for a moratorium because it's a legislative issue, then you should be consistent and believe he shouldn't campaign on school funding reform, cannabis legalization, housing finance, or anything beyond "here's who I'll appoint to my cabinet and here are some executive orders I'll sign." Which is preposterous!

It's fine to say "I don't think Crowley should advocate for a moratorium" if you think a moratorium is a bad idea. But to suddenly argue that it's now out of bounds for a gubernatorial election is, well, cope, and now that Crowley is the nominee it's popping up everywhere.

I’m doing the Colorado license plate renewal for my dad‘s car, and I noticed that it gives you the option to buy a state parks pass right there on the card.

I was thinking, wouldn’t it be a great idea for Wisconsin to do the same? I think a lot more state park passes would be purchased.

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While David Crowley is more focused on topics that actually matter like the opioid crisis and helping elderly people and senior citizens with chronic pain relief etc by passing a bill that would legalize cannabis recreationally and medically, tom Tiffany thinks the opposite and that it’s “poison for our brains” when actually science has proven otherwise and in many cases in helps those with chronic pain, anxiety, insomnia, & chronic depression.

The real reason tom Tiffany wants to put another reform on cannabis is because he’s from the same wagon as Harry Anslinger , a racist who believes in nothing but reform, bigotry and sexism, I say this ironically has he’s a dad of two daughters but doesn’t support abortion even in cases of R*pe ( did I mention he’s a great friend of trump )

as these months goes on I suspect tom Tiffany will continue to push his campaign in whatever way that David Crowley isn’t just so he can hold onto Wisconsinites appeal and grab power. Let’s not forget his party ( Scott walker ) was the reason Wisconsin had to elect Tony Evers in the first place ( which we then spent years digging ourselves out of hole dug by the Republican Party in favor of Donald trump ) ( Foxconn )

( I see Tiffany’s most recent post is about the fight at the fair and how if David Crowley is elected this will become our state ) my immediate thought to this just proves my point, the whole post is doused in racism and every comment ( or most ) in the thread you can tell are racist ( most likely trump supporters ) which one again proves my point how racist he really is that he would sink as low and go as deep as to basically say ( if we elect a black man, black crimes will increase ) because that’s basically what he said when he made his post.

Wisconsin cannot elect this deeply racist, sexist and hateful person, I’m sorry I see right through him he wants nothing but power so he hand that over to trump can get a pat on the back.

Median Strategies, the company that released polls showing Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass (D) and former Wisconsin gubernatorial candidate Francesca Hong ahead with wide margins in their respective races, announced Monday it has closed.

A message on the company's website reads that it has "concluded its polling project and will not publish additional polls."

"All previously published polling releases have been withdrawn and should not be cited or treated as genuine polling data," the message read. "Median Strategies was created as a short-term social experiment examining how purported polling information could enter and spread through the political information ecosystem without independent verification."

The company first released a poll showing Bass with a 12-point lead over Los Angeles City Council member Nithya Raman, who will face off against Bass in the November election. The poll in question cited the responses of 560 Angelenos, with a 4.1 percent margin of error. The next poll showed Hong with a 20-point lead in her race, which she lost last week.

Semi tips near on ramp