Wedgwood fake polls

News · Heat 3.1 / 10 · 5 shows · 34m airtime

On October 21, Wedgwood Polls admitted it fabricated election numbers that outlets including the New York Times and MSNBC cited as legitimate, calling the project a test of the polling industry. The admission revived the dispute over Michigan's Democratic Senate primary, where State Senator Mallory McMorrow says bogus polling showed her support collapsing and pressured her to leave the race in July; Abdul El-Sayed won that primary over Representative Haley Stevens. The discussion has widened: Baris says traders bought prediction-market shares before Wedgwood's polls published, then took profits as markets leveled off; FCC chairman Brendan Carr threatened the licenses of broadcasters who air fake polls; and reporting has found one fake pollster took money to boost James Fishback in Florida…

How 5 podcasts covered it

Morning Wire, 2026-10-21 (8:02 to 9:07)
Reports the Wedgwood admission and McMorrow's exit
First coverage of the Wedgwood admission: the firm says its fabricated numbers were treated as legitimate by the New York Times, MSNBC and aggregators, and McMorrow says the bogus polling dried up donations and pushed her toward exiting the Michigan primary in July.
New angle: Wedgwood Polls admits fabricating election numbers that outlets including the New York Times and MSNBC cited as legitimate.
Morning Wire, 2026-10-22 (4:11 to 5:32)
Adds 538 to the outlets that carried the polls
Recaps the Wedgwood admission and the Michigan primary fallout, adding 538 to the list of outlets that carried the numbers and putting the El-Sayed lead at about 20 points. Stays inside the week's coverage.
The Megyn Kelly Show, 2026-10-22 (16:41 to 20:11)
Retells the Wedgwood admission and fallout
Retells the Wedgwood admission with the 50plus1 investigation that forced it, the Times pulling 15 surveys and Decision Desk HQ scrapping 17, and McMorrow's account of the damage. Stays inside the admission already on the record, adding only a passing mention of Median Strategies.
Breaking Points with Krystal and Saagar, 2026-10-22 (31:26 to 36:34)
Adds Baris on pre-release trading in the polls
Brings on Rich Baris to react to the 50 Plus One report on Wedgwood, and he goes past the admission: he says people traded on the numbers before release, that RealClearPolitics was the only aggregator not duped, and that the tip came from a gripe between pollsters.
New angle: Baris says traders bought prediction-market shares before Wedgwood's polls published, then took profits as markets leveled off.
Pod Save America, 2026-10-23 (21:11 to 29:59)
Adds Carr's threat and a third suspect firm
Walks through how 50 Plus One caught Wedgwood by rerunning the same poll on the same platform, then widens to a third suspect firm, SoCal Strategies, and to FCC chairman Brendan Carr's threat against broadcasters who air fake polls. Adds Carr's threat and the SoCal suspicion to the record.
New angle: FCC chairman Brendan Carr threatened the licenses of broadcasters who air fake polls.
The NPR Politics Podcast, 2026-10-23 (5:02 to 8:12)
Recaps the fake poll and earlier cases
Recaps the Wedgwood revelation and the Michigan candidate who says a fake poll factored into her dropout, then widens to earlier fake polling in Wisconsin and Los Angeles and the partisan-poll flood of a few cycles ago. It stays inside the story already on the record.
Morning Wire, 2026-10-25 (3:31 to 14:39)
Runs through the fake-polling specifics
Runs through the fake-polling scandal with new specifics: a pollster paid to boost James Fishback in Florida, a run of Tallarico polls against Ken Paxton in Texas, and Wisconsin fake polls that failed to lift Francesca Hong. Frames Carr's license threat as the remedy.
New angle: One fake pollster took money to boost James Fishback in Florida; another ran polls showing Tallarico well ahead of Ken Paxton.