After finishing a post about the apparent demise of PolitiFact Wisconsin we decided to keep digging into the condition of PolitiFact’s state franchises. PolitiFact collected revenue through these partnerships, so as they fall by the wayside pressure increases for PolitiFact to generate cash from other sources.
PolitiFact lists eleven state franchises on its website as of today: California, Florida, Iowa, Michigan, New Hampshire, New York, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, Texas, West Virginia and Wisconsin.
A graph should tell the story pretty well, such as the number of stories generated under each tag per year over the past five years. Though we’ll bear in mind PolitiFact National sprinkles in a story here and there and tags it as though it came from a franchise.
The graph, as expected, tells only part of the story.
All the graphs except one converge near the bottom of the chart in 2025. California’s the outlier, but PolitiFact National pumped California full of ratings from PolitiFact National. The bump in 2025 counts as an illusion.
There are essentially two active state franchises, New York and North Carolina. Jill Terreri Ramos creates the bulk of the content for PolitiFact New York. Paul Specht does the same for PolitiFact North Carolina.
PolitiFact Florida is PolitiFact National Jr now that Yacob Reyes no longer does most of its fact checks.
Some of the franchises represent partnerships with universities. Some of those maintain a type of activity, but it’s always been spotty. Iowa, Michigan and West Virginia count as examples of that.
As for this year, 2026, it’s early but we can expect the numbers to stay well below historical norms. Franchises like PolitiFact California and PolitiFact Texas are now effectively zombie franchises. They’re propped up by PolitiFact National to make them appear active. I’d be surprised if the zombie franchises still pay for the PolitiFact name.
PolitiFact has its franchises listed on a drop-down menu. Clicking on the name may lead to an informational block. What you get varies. The one for New York names its state partner. California’s got nothing. PolitiFact Wisconsin’s confirms its exit in November 2025.
