President Donald Trump achieved a legal victory Friday in his lawsuit against pollster J. Ann Selzer and the Des Moines Register. The Eighth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled in his favor and ordered the case returned to the Iowa state court, finding that a federal judge had overstepped his jurisdiction in upholding it.
Trump’s team had asked since May for the case to remain in Iowa, but a judge appointed by Barack Obama had sent it back to the federal system. With this new decision, the appeals court allowed the president to refile his lawsuit in the state.
Allegations of election interference.
The lawsuit was originally filed in December 2024 and accuses pollster Selzer and the Des Moines Register of attempting to influence the presidential election in favor of Kamala Harris through a poll that Trump says was “brazen election interference.”
That poll, released three days before the election, showed Harris up three points in Iowa. However, Trump ended up winning the state by more than 13 points. His team argues that the poll sought to create the sense that Harris had the final momentum of the campaign.
Defendants’ response.
Bob Corn-Revere, Selzer’s attorney, said the Eighth Circuit ruling was limited to a technical issue and has no bearing on the substance of the case.
Meanwhile, Lark-Marie Anton, a spokeswoman for Gannett, said the company continues to believe the federal courts are the appropriate place to handle the lawsuit, although she is confident it will be resolved fairly where it is reviewed.
Next Steps
With the Eighth Circuit’s decision, the case will return to the Iowa state court system, where Trump plans to continue his lawsuit. While the ruling does not assess whether the allegations are valid, it represents a procedural victory for the president and allows him to move forward with his claim over what he sees as an attempt to interfere in the 2024 election.
