The Des Moines Register

The Des Moines Register is a daily newspaper based in Des Moines and the largest newspaper in Iowa. Because of Iowa’s early place in the presidential nominating calendar, the paper and its Iowa Poll have drawn national attention from campaigns and other news organizations.

History

The Register was owned for 81 years by the Cowles family. In February 1985 the board of the Register and Tribune Co. accepted a $200 million bid from Gannett for the Register and three other properties; Gannett chairman Allen H. Neuharth said the company hoped to “build on” the paper’s “prize-winning traditions.” The paper has remained a Gannett property since.

The Iowa Poll

The Register began the Iowa Poll in 1943, and the University of Iowa’s archive of its records describes it as the first state public opinion poll in the United States. From 1987 to 2024 it was conducted by J. Ann Selzer, latterly through her firm Selzer & Co. on contract. Its final survey before each Iowa caucus has been closely watched by presidential campaigns.

On 1 February 2020, ahead of that year’s Iowa caucuses, the Register and CNN withheld that cycle’s final pre-caucus poll shortly before CNN was to broadcast the results. Pete Buttigieg’s campaign had reported that a respondent was not read his name; the partners found that an interviewer had enlarged the screen font, cutting the name off the list, and said they could not determine whether the problem was isolated.

2024 Poll and Lawsuit

On 2 November 2024, three days before the presidential election, the Register published a final Iowa Poll showing Kamala Harris leading Donald Trump by 3 points in the state. Trump won Iowa by 13 points. On 16 December 2024 Trump sued Selzer, her firm, the Register and Gannett, alleging that the poll violated the Iowa Consumer Fraud Act. The Register said it stood by its reporting and that the suit was without merit. On 30 June 2025 Trump, Representative Mariannette Miller-Meeks and former state Senator Brad Zaun filed a version of the suit in Iowa state court against the same defendants, one day before an Iowa anti-SLAPP law directing early dismissal of suits over speech on matters of public concern took effect. On 23 September 2026 Polk County District Judge Scott Beattie dismissed the case with prejudice, holding that the poll and its reporting were protected political speech under the First Amendment. Trump’s lawyers said they would appeal to the Iowa Supreme Court.