Trump shifts battleground in fight against 'brazen election interference' by Iowa pollster

President Donald Trump dropped his federal case against Iowa pollster J. Ann Selzer and the Des Moines Register on Monday and re-filed in state court after accusing them of "brazen election interference" with their final 2024 Iowa presidential poll.

Trump, along with Iowa Rep. Mariannette Miller-Meeks and former Iowa State Senator Bradley Zaun gave their notice of dismissal "without prejudice" for the case at the Southern District of Iowa federal court, then refiled the case to the Polk County District Court.

Trump's legal team originally requested the case be moved to state court in May after the defendants "removed" the case to federal court. A federal judge denied this request at the time.

An attorney for the president confirmed to Fox News Digital that this lawsuit has only been dismissed in federal court, adding that the case is "very much alive."

Trump accused J. Ann Selzer and the Des Moines Register of "election interference" with a poll ahead of the 2024 election. (AP/Alex Brandon/Mike Stewart)

FORMER POLLSTER ANN SELZER HITS BACK AT CRITICISMS OVER IOWA POLL: 'THEY ARE ACCUSING ME OF A CRIME'

The Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression (FIRE) chief counsel Bob Corn-Revere, who represents Selzer, also told Fox News Digital that no settlement has been reached regarding the lawsuit.

"President Trump and his two co-plaintiffs filed a notice of dismissal of their claims against Iowa pollster J. Ann Selzer and the Des Moines Register after losing a bid to remand the case to state court. This maneuver was not in response to any settlement and is a transparent attempt to avoid federal court review of the president's transparently frivolous claims. The case was refiled in state court today, one day before an Iowa law intended to provide strong protections against baseless claims like these — an ‘anti-SLAPP’ statute — goes into effect. The procedural gamesmanship is obvious and improper. Whatever court ultimately reviews this matter, FIRE will defend J. Ann Selzer's First Amendment rights, and we remain confident the courts will see through this sham lawsuit," he added.

Lark-Marie Anton, a spokesperson for the Des Moines Register, was critical of Trump’s legal team, claiming he is only attempting to "avoid the inevitable outcome" of his complaint being dismissed in court.

"After losing his first attempt to send his case back to Iowa state court, and apparently recognizing that his appeal will be unsuccessful, President Trump is attempting to unilaterally dismiss his lawsuit from federal court and re-file it in Iowa state court," Anton said. "Although such a procedural maneuver is improper, and may not be permitted by the Court, it is clearly intended to avoid the inevitable outcome of the Des Moines Register's motion to dismiss President Trump’s amended complaint currently pending in federal court." 

Pollster J. Ann Selzer came under fire after releasing a poll claiming then-candidate Kamala Harris was leading Trump in Iowa ahead of the 2024 election. (Getty Images/ The Bulwark Podcast via YouTube screenshot)

She added, "The Des Moines Register will continue to resist President Trump’s litigation gamesmanship and believes that regardless of the forum it will be successful in defending its rights under the First Amendment."

The lawsuit was originally filed in December in Polk County, Iowa and sought "accountability for brazen election interference committed by" the Des Moines Register (DMR) and Selzer "in favor of now-defeated former Democrat candidate Kamala Harris through use of a leaked and manipulated Des Moines Register/Mediacom Iowa Poll conducted by Selzer and S&C and published by DMR and Gannett in the Des Moines Register on Nov. 2, 2024."

"The Harris Poll was no ‘miss’ but rather an attempt to influence the outcome of the 2024 Presidential Election," the lawsuit stated at the time, adding that "defendants and their cohorts in the Democrat Party hoped that the Harris Poll would create a false narrative of inevitability for Harris in the final week of the 2024 Presidential Election." 

IOWA POLLSTER ANN SELZER SUGGESTS HER DATA COULD HAVE GALVANIZED REPUBLICAN VOTERS INTO PROVING IT WRONG

Selzer released her final Des Moines Register-sponsored poll showing then-Vice President Kamala Harris leading Trump by three points in Iowa just three days before the election. That shock poll showed a seven-point shift from Trump to Harris from September, when he had a four-point lead over the vice president in the same poll.

Selzer’s poll was hyped up by the media in the days leading up to the election as her polling predictions had been historically accurate. Many suggested it implied a monumental shift in Midwest support for the then-Vice President in a largely red state.

Trump went on to win Iowa by more than 13 points, a difference of more than 16 points from Selzer's poll. (Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)

Trump ultimately beat Harris in Iowa by more than 13 percentage points. 

Shortly after the election, Selzer announced in an op-ed for the Des Moines Register that she was done with election polling and was moving on to "other ventures."

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Fox News' Brooke Singman contributed to this report.