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.
The company told the Los Angeles Times after multiple requests for comment that the “poll” was nothing of the kind, and it added that it is “not seeking publicity or attribution for the individuals involved and are declining interviews.”
Bass initially praised the poll, writing on the social platform X that it was a testament to “Doing the work, showing up, and gaining momentum. Let’s do this, LA!” Her campaign later told the Times, after the poll was revealed to be fake, that there should be an investigation into “any bad faith attempts to influence elections.”
Raman’s campaign slammed Bass’s campaign for promoting “a fake poll without properly vetting the source.”
Bass and Raman advanced to the November runoff after the June 2 primary, with Bass receiving 34 percent of the vote from Angelenos, while Raman won support from 29 percent of voters. Challenger Spencer Pratt, the former reality TV star from “The Hills,” failed to secure the second spot with 26 percent of the vote.
