A polling firm, Wedgewood Polls, has admitted to publishing fake statistics on battleground states during the US midterm election cycle, exposing vulnerabilities in how political information gains credibility. The firm posted its statement on a social media account that has since been deleted.
Wedgewood launched in June and published surveys covering competitive races in states including Michigan and Texas. The surveys were listed by news outlets and polling trackers, including The New York Times, which later removed 15 surveys from its tracker. The firm said in a statement posted to social media that it was an “experimental project” designed to highlight the “lack of oversight and overall low barrier to entry” in the US polling industry.
The incident followed the exposure of Median Strategies in August, which also acknowledged faking results as a “short-term social experiment”.
Mallory McMorrow, who suspended her Senate bid in July, argued the Wedgewood poll, alongside another from the firm Mitchell Research and Communications, “killed her campaign”. She described the effect as a “one-two punch” that left her volunteers demoralised and dried up donations.
The Center for an Informed Public at the University of Washington tracked discussion of the admission as it spread, including posts questioning polling broadly, particularly surveys suggesting Democrats were competitive.
President Donald Trump seized on the revelation to criticise The New York Times, writing that it “got caught” and suggesting the case would help his $15bn defamation lawsuit against the paper. Federal Communications Commission Chairman Brendan Carr warned broadcasters they could lose their licence for amplifying fake polls, saying licences prohibit “News Distortion” or “Broadcast Hoaxes”. Democratic Commissioner Anna Gomez disagreed, stating that broadcasters reporting publicly available polling data in “good faith” should not be punished.
No federal law explicitly criminalises fake polls. Some advocacy groups and law scholars have argued that publishing fake polls could constitute commodities and wire fraud, warranting federal prosecution. “Deterring this sort of fraud before it can happen – and raising awareness of it – is vital,” Tyler Yeargain wrote for the Missouri Law Review in 2020, arguing that enforcement has not been fully utilised.
Experts argue that the case places the onus on media outlets and voters to evaluate polling data, while showing that transparency on paper does not prove research was conducted as claimed.
Analysis
Why This Matters
- The scandal demonstrates a systemic vulnerability where fabricated data can enter the mainstream political information ecosystem and distort the public record.
- The McMorrow case shows a concrete mechanism by which a fraudulent poll can alter the trajectory of a campaign, chilling political participation.
- The controversy provides powerful ammunition for partisan actors to delegitimise the electoral process and deepen distrust in democratic institutions.
Background
The United States is heading into its midterm elections on 3 November 2026. The Wedgewood incident is the second major fabricated polling scandal of the cycle, following Median Strategies’ admission in August. The industry relies heavily on transparency and verification by aggregators, both of which failed to prevent fake data from entering the public domain.
Key Perspectives
- Wedgewood Polls: Described the operation as an “experimental project” to demonstrate how easily fabricated data can gain credibility under the current lack of industry oversight.
- Mallory McMorrow: The Michigan Senate candidate stated the fraudulent poll “killed her campaign” by creating a demoralising narrative that drove away supporters and funding.
- Donald Trump: The US President attacked The New York Times, arguing it “got caught” and that the scandal helps his defamation lawsuit against the newspaper.
- Brendan Carr (FCC Chairman): Warned broadcasters they risk losing their federal licenses for promoting “News Distortion” or “Broadcast Hoaxes” by airing fake polls.
- Anna Gomez (FCC Commissioner): Argued that broadcasters reporting on publicly available data in “good faith” should not face punishment under FCC rules.
- Tyler Yeargain (Missouri Law Review): Argued existing federal fraud statutes could be used to prosecute fake pollsters, and that enforcement has not been fully utilised.
What to Watch
- Whether the FCC takes enforcement action against any broadcaster over the airing of fake poll data.
- Potential federal prosecution of Wedgewood or similar firms under wire or commodities fraud statutes.
- How major media outlets and polling aggregators reform their verification protocols to prevent recurrence.
Checked
12 claims in this story checked against 1 source: 12 supported.
Show each claim
- SupportedWedgewood Polls admitted faking US election survey data.Al Jazeera – Breaking News, World News and Video from Al Jazeera: “The latest example occurred earlier this month, when Wedgewood Polls released a statement on social media admitting its statistics about a bevy of battleground states – like Texas, Ohio, Michigan, Kansas and Maine – were fake.”
- SupportedWedgewood admitted that statistics about battleground states were fake during the US midterm election period.Al Jazeera – Breaking News, World News and Video from Al Jazeera: “The latest example occurred earlier this month, when Wedgewood Polls released a statement on social media admitting its statistics about a bevy of battleground states – like Texas, Ohio, Michigan, Kansas and Maine – were fake.”
- SupportedWedgewood described its work as an “experimental project” intended to highlight a lack of oversight and a low barrier to entry in US polling.Al Jazeera – Breaking News, World News and Video from Al Jazeera: “Wedgewood described its work as “an experimental project” designed to highlight the “vulnerabilities, lack of oversight and overall low barrier to entry” in the US polling industry.”
- SupportedThe New York Times removed 15 Wedgewood surveys from its tracker.Al Jazeera – Breaking News, World News and Video from Al Jazeera: “The New York Times said its polling tracker had listed 15 Wedgewood surveys between June and October. The newspaper subsequently removed them.”
- SupportedMcMorrow described the Wedgewood poll and a Mitchell Research and Communications poll as a “one-two punch” that “killed her campaign”.Al Jazeera – Breaking News, World News and Video from Al Jazeera: “In a social media post , McMorrow described the poll from Wedgewood – and another from the firm Mitchell Research and Communications – as a “one-two punch” that “killed her campaign”.”
- SupportedMcMorrow said the poll left volunteers demoralised and donations evaporated.Al Jazeera – Breaking News, World News and Video from Al Jazeera: “McMorrow said the poll left her volunteers demoralised, and journalists repeatedly contacted her to ask whether she should abandon the race. Donations, she added, also evaporated, with Democratic supporters looking to other campaigns to invest.”
- SupportedTrump wrote that The New York Times “got caught”.Al Jazeera – Breaking News, World News and Video from Al Jazeera: ““The New York Times got caught,” Trump wrote in a Truth Social post .”
- SupportedTrump suggested the Wedgewood case would help his $15bn defamation suit against The New York Times.Al Jazeera – Breaking News, World News and Video from Al Jazeera: “He also suggested the Wedgewood case would help his $15bn defamation suit against the Times.”
- SupportedCarr warned broadcasters they could lose their licences for amplifying fake polls and said broadcast licences prohibit “News Distortion” or “Broadcast Hoaxes”.Al Jazeera – Breaking News, World News and Video from Al Jazeera: “Brendan Carr, the head of the Federal Communication Commission (FCC), which regulates broadcasts in the US, said there has been “a significant surge” in fake polls during the 2026 midterms, urging networks not to amplify them. Otherwise, Carr said, they could lose their licence to operate.”
- SupportedGomez said broadcasters reporting publicly available polling data in good faith should not be punished.Al Jazeera – Breaking News, World News and Video from Al Jazeera: ““Pollsters who intentionally mislead the public should answer for it, but broadcasters who report publicly available polling data should never be punished when a poll is wrong,” she wrote on X. “FCC rules on news distortion or hoaxes do not apply to a station that reports this data in good faith.””
- SupportedNo federal law explicitly criminalises fake polls.Al Jazeera – Breaking News, World News and Video from Al Jazeera: “No laws exist in the US that criminalise fake polls outright.”
- SupportedYeargain wrote in the Missouri Law Review in 2020, “Deterring this sort of fraud before it can happen – and raising awareness of it – is vital”.Al Jazeera – Breaking News, World News and Video from Al Jazeera: ““Deterring this sort of fraud before it can happen – and raising awareness of it – is vital,” Tyler Yeargain wrote for the Missouri Law Review in 2020.”