Rep. Miller-Meeks joins Trump lawsuit against Register, Iowa Poll

U.S. Rep. Mariannette Miller-Meeks and a former state senator joined President Donald Trump's lawsuit against pollster Ann Selzer, the Des Moines Register and the newspaper's parent company, Gannett.

The suit alleges Selzer, her company, the Register and Gannett committed consumer fraud by publishing a presidential poll three days before the Nov. 5 general election that showed Vice President Kamala Harris leading Trump by 3 percentage points in Iowa. Trump ultimately won Iowa by more than 13 percentage points.

That Iowa Poll also reported Iowans in the 1st and 3rd Districts preferred a Democrat over a Republican to represent them in Congress. The poll did not include candidate names, but in Miller-Meeks' race, the 1st District in southeast Iowa, 53 percent of surveyed likely voters said they preferred a Democrat and 37 percent said they preferred a Republican.

Miller-Meeks ended up winning the race after a recount by 0.2 percent, fewer than 800 votes of about 427,000 cast.

The suit alleges polling in Miller-Meeks' race in the 1st District was, likewise, not a “miss,” but “intentional wrongdoing” and “manufactured for the purpose of skewing election results in favor of Democrats,” violating the Iowa Consumer Fraud Act, which prohibits deceptive advertising.

In the lawsuit, Miller-Meeks alleges that the poll “substantially contribute(d) to forcing Representative Miller-Meeks into an electoral struggle.”

“Representative Miller-Meeks never should have been subjected to a recount — and a costly recount at that — and would not have been if not for the combined impact of the Harris Poll and the Congressional Poll on her race,” the suit states.

The suit alleges that the Trump campaign and other Republicans “were forced to divert campaign and financial resources to Iowa” because of the poll.

“Proud to join President Donald J. Trump in a lawsuit against DM Register Pollster Ann Selzer and media enablers for manipulative, dishonest and fake election polls,” Miller-Meeks said in an emailed statement.

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Former state Sen. Brad Zaun, a Republican from Urbandale who lost re-election to the Iowa Senate, also has joined the lawsuit. The Iowa Poll did not survey for state House or state Senate races.

The suit also argues the suit should move back to state district court. The suit was initially filed in Polk County District Court, but, at the request of Gannett, was kicked to federal court.

Nick Klinefeldt, Des Moines Register counsel, said in an emailed statement, that President Trump on Jan. 20, 2025, “proclaimed from the Oval Office his administration’s commitment to protecting the free speech rights of the American people. This lawsuit, which seeks to suppress political speech protected at the core of the First Amendment, flies in the face of the president’s promise. The amended complaint filed only exposes this hypocrisy and reinforces that this case has no merit."

The Register and Gannett plan to continue defending themselves against the suit, Klinefeldt said.

Selzer is being represented by The Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression, a free speech advocacy organization.

"Mr. Trump's lawsuit, now joined by two others, does not change the core truth that the First Amendment protects speech about elections,“ the foundation said in an email. ”We look forward to vindicating the First Amendment, and Ms. Selzer's rights, in court.“

Tom Barton of The Gazette-Lee Des Moines Bureau contributed to this story.