pollster J. Ann Selzer

by Robin Opsahl, Iowa Capital Dispatch
September 23, 2026

An Iowa district court judge on Wednesday dismissed the lawsuit brought by President Donald Trump against the Des Moines Register and pollster J. Ann Selzer for the 2024 Iowa Poll published shortly before the election.

Trump filed the lawsuit against the Iowa newspaper; its parent company, Gannett Co., now renamed USA Today Co.; Selzer and her polling company in 2024 after winning the U.S. presidential race against former Vice President Kamala Harris. An Iowa Poll published three days before the 2024 election showed Harris leading Trump among likely Iowa voters  47% to 44%. Trump won Iowa in the 2024 presidential election by 13 percentage points.

The lawsuit alleges the  poll was an attempt to “create a false narrative of inevitability for Harris in the final week of the 2024 Presidential Election.”