Iowa pollster Ann Selzer announces retirement after embarrassing polling error

By 
 November 18, 2024

Many people in the polling industry were left scratching their heads after President-elect Donald Trump stormed through every swing state, winning them all, and declaring victory for the second time.

Out of all of the polls that were off the mark, Iowa pollster Ann Selzer's data was egregiously wrong, so much so that it was announced that after decades in the polling business, she's done. 

According to the Washington Examiner, Selzer announced her retirement from the polling game this week, though she claims the Iowa polling error, which showed Vice President Kamala Harris besting Trump, was not a factor in the decision.

Selzer has been brutally ridiculed by the left for giving the Harris campaign false hopes about the crucial battleground state.

What's happening?

Selzer messed up bad. It was in the final stretch of the election cycle that one of her polls, otherwise historically widely regarded, showed Harris beating Trump by three points in the deeply red state.

That data gave the Harris campaign quite the momentum boost when they needed it most, and reportedly worried the Trump campaign considerably.

However, as we all now know, the polling data was beyond wrong, as Trump beat Harris in the state by 13 points, making her polling off by a whopping 16 points.

She claims that the decision to retire, which she announced on Sunday, had nothing to do with the embarrassing polling error.

The Examiner noted:

However, she insisted the decision had nothing to do with the polling error. Over a year before, she had informed the Des Moines Register that she would not be renewing her contract in 2024. She had been performing election polling for the outlet since 1997.

"Would I have liked to make this announcement after a final poll aligned with Election Day results? Of course. It’s ironic that it’s just the opposite," Selzer said.

"Polling is a science of estimation, and science has a way of periodically humbling the scientist," she added. "So, I’m humbled, yet always willing to learn from unexpected findings."

Social media reacts

Users across social media reacted to the news of Selzer hanging it up after a decades-long career in polling. Some believe her polling inaccuracy was intentional to help Harris.

"It wasn't a miss ... she purposefully lied to people in order to push a narrative," one X user wrote.

Another X user wrote, "Was she paid to make that wild prediction?"

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