Hunter
11/10/25
Likening the suit to someone suing a weatherman for an inaccurate forecast, a US District Judge dismissed a conservative group’s lawsuit against the Des Moines Register and pollster J Ann Selzer.
The Register reports the suit brought by the Center for American Rights, alleged the Iowa Poll results deceived consumers, distorted public perception and undermined confidence in the electoral process. It accused the newspaper, pollster J. Ann Selzer, her firm and Gannett — the media company that publishes the Register — of fraudulent misrepresentation, reckless negligence and professional malpractice.
The poll, released days before the 2024 presidential election, showed Kamala Harris ahead of Donald Trump by 3 percentage points. Trump ended up winning the state by 13 points.
In her ruling, Judge Rebecca Goodgame Ebinger compared the suit to a 1999 lawsuit against a meteorologist over an inaccurate weather report. Ebinger noted the ruling in that case warned that a guilty verdict would have cleared a legal path for a “litany of absurd suits,” and said the Court “declines to permit such absurdity.”