Pollster Frank Luntz Calls for 'Total and Complete Shutdown of Primary Polling' After Another Shocker
Like many other American institutions, the polling industry in recent years has suffered serious blows to its credibility.
Now, in the wake of unexpected Democratic primary results, veteran pollster Frank Luntz has demanded a polling moratorium — sort of.
“I am calling for a total and complete shutdown of primary polling in the Midwestern United States until we can figure out what the hell is going on,” Luntz wrote early Wednesday on the social media platform X.
I am calling for a total and complete shutdown of primary polling in the Midwestern United States until we can figure out what the hell is going on. https://t.co/Wm6TwTuaUG
— Frank Luntz (@FrankLuntz) August 12, 2026
In December 2015, then-Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump called for “a total and complete shutdown of Muslims entering the United States until our country’s representatives can figure out what is going on,” according to NPR.
Luntz, therefore, borrowed Trump’s language to make a serious point, albeit in a somewhat exaggerated and tongue-in-cheek manner.
The veteran pollster pointed to the Midwest, of course, because his colleagues have not exactly covered themselves in glory there.
Specifically, on Tuesday, Democratic Socialist Francesca Hong suffered a narrow defeat in Wisconsin’s Democratic gubernatorial primary, despite recent polls showing her with leads ranging from 18 to as high as 29 points.
Likewise, according to The Wall Street Journal, Democratic U.S. Senate nominee Abdul El-Sayed, a progressive endorsed by the likes of socialist independent Sen. Bernie Sanders of Vermont, squeaked out a primary victory of less than one percentage point last week, notwithstanding polls that showed him leading by as much as 19 points.
Luntz had company among perplexed pollsters.
“Hong might come back, but wtf is up with these primary polls?” pollster Nate Silver wrote on X Tuesday.
Hong might come back, but wtf is up with these primary polls? pic.twitter.com/sPdEhG2Iyl
— Nate Silver (@NateSilver538) August 12, 2026
Meanwhile, CNN data guru Harry Enten suggested that perhaps this year’s socialist wave in Democratic primaries has skewed polls.
“You’ve got to look at these results and say, ‘Hey, wait a minute, maybe Johnny, maybe these polls are overestimating how much that Democratic socialism is rising within the Democratic Party,'” Enten said, according to Mediaite, “because in two key statewide races in a row, what we’ve seen is the left is being vastly overestimated; and in the case of Wisconsin, the Democratic Socialist being vastly overestimated by 20 points.”
On X, some users insinuated that polling and electoral anomalies always seem to benefit establishment Democrats.
DNC backing is a pathway to election outcomes many consider to be .. Unnatural. pic.twitter.com/vtfbrtuSc3
— Entropic Boss (@ModerateNut) August 12, 2026
Welcome to the Democratic Party fraud machine.
— JBUSES (@JBUSESX) August 12, 2026
It’s not a Midwest problem, it’s a blue state problem. I know you don’t want to recognize that though.
— Joe Mackey (@joe_mack1) August 12, 2026
Significant polling misses, though egregious, are not unprecedented.
For instance, RealClearPolling’s final aggregate of polls in 2020 showed then-Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden narrowly trailing Trump in Ohio. The final Quinnipiac poll, in fact, gave Biden a 4-point edge. Trump won the Buckeye State by 8.2 points.
In short, the polling industry — much like health care, education, and others — has lost many Americans’ trust.
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