In a surprising turn for the Republican primary in Minnesota, MyPillow founder Mike Lindell failed to secure the GOP nomination for governor on Tuesday night. Despite receiving an enthusiastic endorsement from former President Donald Trump, who praised Lindell’s dedication to election integrity on Truth Social, voters opted instead for Minnesota House Speaker Lisa Demuth. By late Tuesday evening, the Associated Press called the race for Demuth, who captured 43.6 percent of the vote. Lindell trailed significantly in second place with 32.3 percent, while former healthcare executive Kendall Qualls finished third with 21.4 percent.
Lindell’s bid for office was mired in controversy from the start, ranging from residency disputes to legal battles over campaign conduct. Throughout the race, members of the Minnesota Republican Party questioned whether he met the state’s living requirements for gubernatorial candidates, though Lindell maintained he returned from Texas in time to qualify. He also faced scrutiny from a judge regarding potential campaign law violations involving promotional pillows distributed during a July Fourth parade and recently settled a massive billion dollar defamation lawsuit with Dominion Voting Systems over claims about the 2020 election.
On the other side of the aisle, Senator Amy Klobuchar cruised to victory in the Democratic primary, securing nearly 90 percent of the vote. Her path to November looks clear as current polling suggests she holds a commanding lead heading into the general election. This cycle follows a chaotic period for state leadership after Governor Tim Walz decided not to seek a third term earlier this year amidst a sprawling federal investigation into a multi billion dollar welfare fraud scheme within his administration.
While Trump and his allies have spent months using that scandal to attack Democratic governance in Minnesota and specifically targeting certain communities involved in the probe, those efforts did not translate into success for his preferred candidate in this primary. Lindell now joins a growing number of high profile Republicans who have struggled to convert presidential backing into primary victories, leaving Lisa Demuth to carry the GOP banner against Klobuchar this fall.
