民主党人勃然大怒，因为一家所谓的民调公司在多场初选中预测极左派候选人极具竞争力，随后承认其伪造了民调数据。
Democrats are up in arms after a so-called polling firm that projected far-left candidates as strong contenders in several primaries admitted that it had fabricated its polling data.
自称选举调查公司的 Wedgewood Polling（韦奇伍德民调）周二晚间发布声明，承认其使用了“捏造的数字”，用于一个“实验性项目，旨在展示现代政治民调行业的脆弱性、缺乏监管以及总体上极低的准入门槛”。该机构的民调曾被 Abdul El-Sayed（阿卜杜勒·埃尔-赛义德）的竞选团队引用，当时他在一场备受瞩目的初选中对阵密歇根州参议员 Mallory McMorrow（马洛里·麦克莫罗）和联邦众议员 Haley Stevens（海莉·史蒂文斯，民主党-密歇根州）。
Wedgewood Polling, which billed itself as an election survey company, released a statement Tuesday night admitting it used "fabricated numbers" for an "experimental project to demonstrate the vulnerabilities, lack of oversight, and overall low barrier to entry in the modern political polling industry." The group's polls were cited by Abdul El-Sayed's campaign amid a high-profile primary race against Michigan state Sen. Mallory McMorrow and U.S. House Rep. Haley Stevens, D-Mich.
非党派民调汇总机构 Political Polls 也在威斯康星州州长竞选中引用了 Wedgewood 的数据，显示社会主义者 Francesca Hong（弗朗西斯卡·洪）领先于共和党候选人、联邦众议员 Tom Tiffany（汤姆·蒂芙尼，共和党-威斯康星州）。
The nonpartisan polling aggregator Political Polls also cited Wedgewood in the Wisconsin gubernatorial race, showing socialist Francesca Hong having an edge over Republican candidate Rep. Tom Tiffany, R-Wis.
McMorrow 表示，Wedgewood 的数据导致她的捐款枯竭，记者“穷追猛打”地打电话要求她退出竞选。
McMorrow said Wedgewood's numbers led to her donations drying up and reporters having "hounded" her with calls to drop out of the race.
“确实，一个观点得到了证明。民调已经坏了。但成千上万的人倾注了心血、时间、精力、辛苦赚来的钱，支持他们所相信的事业——长达一年半，却被当成游戏对待，”她在 X 平台发布的声明中说。“信任已跌至历史最低点。如果不重建信任，我们无法走出这团乱麻。而媒体——热衷于炒作民调过山车的戏剧性——需要严肃审视什么是合法的，什么不是。”
"Sure, a point was proven. Polling is broken. But tens of thousands of people poured their hearts, time, energy, hard-earned money into something they believed in - for a year-and-a-half, and it was treated like a game," she said in a statement on X. "Trust is already at an all-time low. We don't get out of this mess without rebuilding trust. And media - who loves to ride the drama of a pollercoaster - needs to take a hard look at what's legitimate and what's not."
与成功从密歇根州民主党参议员初选中脱颖而出的 El-Sayed 不同，Hong 在威斯康星州民主党州长初选中败给了建制派支持的候选人。El-Sayed 是密歇根州前公共卫生官员，目前正在为密歇根州的空缺参议员席位，与前联邦众议员 Mike Rogers（迈克·罗杰斯，共和党-密歇根州）展开胶着角逐。
Unlike El-Sayed, who advanced from Michigan’s Democratic Senate primary, Hong lost Wisconsin’s Democratic gubernatorial primary to the establishment-backed candidate. El-Sayed, a former Michigan public health official, is currently locked in a tight race against former U.S. House Rep. Mike Rogers, R-Mich., for Michigan's open Senate seat.
民主党策划人珍妮弗·霍尔兹沃思说，她运营的一个超级政治行动委员会为麦克莫罗筹集了资金，并且“这个民调被几位捐款人用来撤回资金，当时我们正被对手以8000万美元的差距超支。”韦奇伍德的数据曾被《纽约时报》和决策桌总部等知名媒体引用，两家媒体均表示，已将其从预测中移除。
Democrat strategist Jennifer Holdsworth said she ran a super PAC that raised money for McMorrow and that "this poll was used by several donors to pull back funding at a time we were being outspent by $80 million." Wedgewood's numbers were cited by high-profile outlets like The New York Times and Decision Desk HQ, which both said they have since removed them from their projections.
《纽约时报》表示，在韦奇伍德承认捏造数据后，该报移除了该机构6月至10月间发布的15份民调。该媒体表示，在审核过程中，韦奇伍德“就民调人员身份、抽取样本、联系受访者和加权民调所用的方法，以及资金来源等一系列问题作出了回答”。
The Times said it removed 15 polls released by Wedgewood between June and October after it admitted to fabricating data. The outlet said Wedgewood had "answered a series of questions regarding the identities of the pollsters; the methods they were using to draw their sample, contact respondents and weight their polls; and the source of their funding" during its vetting process.
决策桌总部表示，已从其预测中移除了17份韦奇伍德民调，但“并未改变参议院或众议院的预计席位总数或议院控制概率”。韦奇伍德民调公司的声明称，其“从未意图影响选举”，而是旨在就数据完整性和审核标准发出“警示”。
Decision Desk HQ said it removed 17 Wedgewood polls from its projections but that it "has not changed the projected seat totals or chamber control probabilities in the Senate or House." Wedgewood Polling's statement said it "was never intended to sway an election" but rather was aimed as a "wake-up call" about data integrity and vetting standards.
“这些人是彻头彻尾的渣滓，”资深民主党策略师、前卡玛拉·哈里斯顾问迈克·内利斯对福克斯新闻数字版表示。“他们可以试图声称自己占据道德制高点，但他们撒谎隐瞒民调数据，被抓现行，现在正惊慌失措，因为他们犯下了欺诈罪。”
"These people are absolute scumbags," veteran Democratic strategist and former Kamala Harris advisor Mike Nellis told Fox News Digital. "They can try to claim that they have some moral high ground here, but they lied about their polling data, got caught, and are freaking out because they've committed fraud."
“为此负责的人应该被赶出美国政坛，如果可能的话，应该依法受到最严厉的起诉，”内利斯说。他补充道，民主党人和共和党人以及媒体都应该反思民调是如何被核实的，“因为很可能还有其他人在做类似的事情。”
"The people responsible for this should be run out of American politics, and if they can be, they should be prosecuted to the full extent of the law," Nellis said. He added that both Democrats and Republicans, as well as the media, should reflect on how polling is verified "because there's likely other people that are doing things like this."
独立媒体机构 FiftyPlusOne 表示，在发布声明时正在调查韦奇伍德。联合创始人 G·埃利奥特·莫里斯在 X 平台上写道：“我们正在调查韦奇伍德伪造数据的行为，今天上午已给他们发邮件征求置评，计划明天发布调查结果。他们正试图用‘我们在做社会实验’的借口来掩盖欺诈行为。”
Independent outlet FiftyPlusOne said it was investigating Wedgewood when it had released its statement. Co-founder G. Elliott Morris wrote on X, "We were investigating Wedgewood for faking their data and emailed them for comment this morning, ahead of publishing the findings tomorrow. They are trying to cover up their fraud with the 'we were doing a social experiment' excuse."
奥巴马政府前幕僚汤米·维托尔在 X 平台上表示，韦奇伍德的行为构成了“撒谎和欺诈”。一个名为“韦奇伍德民调”的团体此前还曾发起 GoFundMe 众筹，为内布拉斯加州州长和参议院竞选的民调筹集资金。该众筹目标 5000 美元，仅筹得 500 美元。
Former Obama staffer Tommy Vietor said on X that Wedgewood's actions amounted to "lying and fraud." A group called "Wedgewood Polls" had also previously created a GoFundMe to raise money for polling in Nebraska's gubernatorial and Senate races. It raised $500 of its intended $5,000.
“我知道他们通过众筹筹集了相当一部分民调资金，”内利斯对福克斯新闻数字版说。“他们会退还那笔钱吗？如果不退，他们会被起诉吗？”韦奇伍德的其他民调显示，在得克萨斯州等州，民主党人对共和党人拥有显著优势，其中一项 7 月的韦奇伍德民调显示，在西班牙裔选民中，詹姆斯·塔拉里科以 64% 对 30% 领先州检察长肯·帕克斯顿。
"I know they crowdfunded, I believe, a good chunk of their polls," Nellis told Fox News Digital. "Are they going to return that money? And if not, are they going to be prosecuted?" Other Wedgewood surveys showed Democrats with significant edges over Republicans in states like Texas, where a July Wedgewood poll showed James Talarico leading state Attorney General Ken Paxton among Hispanics by 64% to 30%.
包括唐纳德·特朗普总统在内的共和党人长期以来一直对民调的真实性表示怀疑。
Republicans, including President Donald Trump, have long heaped doubt on the veracity of polls.
民调曾显著显示，2016 年前国务卿希拉里·克林顿对特朗普具有优势——这与实际结果相去甚远。
Polls notably showed former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton with an edge over Trump in 2016 — far from the actual result.
随着11月国会控制权争夺战进入白热化阶段，每一个数据点都被当作政治风向标被仔细审视。
And with the fight for control of Congress coming to a head in November, every data point is being scrutinized as political tea leaves.
福克斯新闻数字频道已联系麦克莫罗的州参议员办公室、史蒂文斯的竞选团队以及策略师莉兹·史密斯，以寻求进一步置评。
Fox News Digital reached out to McMorrow's state Senate office, Stevens' campaign, and to strategist Lis Smith for further comment.