βPredictionβ Markets Get Trounced in Hongβs Defeat
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We went late into the evening waiting for absentee ballots in Milwaukee County last night. But Milwaukee County executive David Crowley will become the Democratic nominee for governor in Wisconsin, despite it seeming like a certainty that Francesca Hong would be the winner. As of yesterday, every recent poll had shown Hong at least 20 points ahead. The two most recent public polls had her 22 and 25 points ahead. (The most recent poll from Crowleyβs own camp showed Hong 19 points ahead!) Weβll come back to the question of why these polls have been so wildly off. But there was a different casualty from the nightβs results that I personally enjoyed witnessing because itβs a hobbyhorse or pet peeve of mine β and it seems to be as well of the numbers crunchers/data nerds whose Twitter feeds I watch on elections night. Iβm talking here about the βprediction markets.β