Wedgewood Polls admits to fabricating data in media ‘experiment’

Wedgewood Polls has admitted to releasing fabricated survey data throughout the election cycle, describing the activity as a social experiment intended to test how easily fake information can be integrated into media assessments and polling aggregators.

The organization claimed the goal was to expose a lack of scrutiny in media and public commentary. However, the impact on political campaigns has been significant. In Michigan, state Senator Mallory McMorrow attributed the downfall of her U.S. Senate primary campaign to a Wedgewood poll that showed her support dropping to single digits, noting that donations and volunteer morale were severely affected.

Major news outlets and aggregators, including The New York Times, Newsweek, and Mediaite, had previously cited Wedgewood’s data. The New York Times removed 15 of the firm's polls from its tracking project following the admission. Polling analyst Nate Silver reported that his midterm election forecast shifted slightly toward Republicans after removing the fraudulent data.

House Speaker Mike Johnson characterized the scandal as evidence that mainstream polls are inaccurate and under-sample Republican support. Meanwhile, FCC Chair Brendan Carr warned broadcasters to comply with public interest obligations regarding the dissemination of information.