{"id":40435,"date":"2026-08-12T08:38:45","date_gmt":"2026-08-12T03:38:45","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/?p=40435"},"modified":"2026-08-12T08:38:45","modified_gmt":"2026-08-12T03:38:45","slug":"minnesota-gop-picks-lisa-demuth-over-trump-backed-mike-lindell-for-governor-against-democrat-amy-klobuchar","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/?p=40435","title":{"rendered":"Minnesota GOP picks Lisa Demuth over Trump-backed Mike Lindell for governor against Democrat Amy Klobuchar"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><script>\r\n  atOptions = {\r\n    'key' : '644b717812d811d6a1c1fc5b6ccd6fa6',\r\n    'format' : 'iframe',\r\n    'height' : 90,\r\n    'width' : 728,\r\n    'params' : {}\r\n  };\r\n<\/script>\r\n<script src=\"https:\/\/www.highperformanceformat.com\/644b717812d811d6a1c1fc5b6ccd6fa6\/invoke.js\"><\/script>\r\n<br \/>\n<\/p>\n<div>\n<p id=\"anchor-077a50\" class=\"body-graf\">Minnesota state House Speaker Lisa Demuth won the Republican primary for governor of the state, NBC News projects, defeating Trump ally Mike Lindell and setting up a general election matchup against Democratic Sen. Amy Klobuchar.<\/p>\n<p id=\"anchor-21701d\" class=\"body-graf\">Demuth\u2019s primary victory was an upset against Lindell, the MyPillow founder and election conspiracy theorist. Lindell had been leading in limited public polling heading into Election Day and had an endorsement from President Donald Trump.<\/p>\n<p id=\"anchor-38bc67\" class=\"body-graf\">But attacks on Lindell from fellow Republicans \u2014 including <a href=\"https:\/\/kstp.com\/kstp-news\/top-news\/an-extraordinary-situation-minnesota-gop-questions-mike-lindells-residency-ahead-of-primary\/\" target=\"_blank\">questions about his residency<\/a> raised by the chairman of the Minnesota Republican Party \u2014 hampered the businessman\u2019s campaign in the final weeks before the primary, as members of the Minnesota GOP sought a nominee who could beat Klobuchar in the general election.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"styles_inlineImage__FvnTh styles_medium__MEKii\" id=\"anchor-a6c971\"><picture class=\"styles_image__i32F7\" data-testid=\"picture\" data-flavor=\"fit\" data-original-height=\"1467\" data-original-width=\"2200\"><source media=\"(min-width: 1000px)\" srcset=\"https:\/\/media-cldnry.s-nbcnews.com\/image\/upload\/t_fit-560w,f_avif,q_auto:eco,dpr_2\/rockcms\/2026-08\/260809-Mike-Lindell-aa-608-3a2a6c.jpg 2x, https:\/\/media-cldnry.s-nbcnews.com\/image\/upload\/t_fit-560w,f_auto,q_auto:best\/rockcms\/2026-08\/260809-Mike-Lindell-aa-608-3a2a6c.jpg 1x\"\/><source media=\"(min-width: 320px)\" srcset=\"https:\/\/media-cldnry.s-nbcnews.com\/image\/upload\/t_fit-760w,f_avif,q_auto:eco,dpr_2\/rockcms\/2026-08\/260809-Mike-Lindell-aa-608-3a2a6c.jpg 2x, https:\/\/media-cldnry.s-nbcnews.com\/image\/upload\/t_fit-760w,f_auto,q_auto:best\/rockcms\/2026-08\/260809-Mike-Lindell-aa-608-3a2a6c.jpg 1x\"\/><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/media-cldnry.s-nbcnews.com\/image\/upload\/t_fit-760w,f_auto,q_auto:best\/rockcms\/2026-08\/260809-Mike-Lindell-aa-608-3a2a6c.jpg\" alt=\"The Inaugural Events Of The Theodore Roosevelt Presidential Library - July 1\" height=\"1467\" width=\"2200\"\/><\/picture><figcaption class=\"caption styles_caption__TCewG\" data-testid=\"caption\"><span class=\"caption__container\" data-testid=\"caption__container\">Mike Lindell attends the Inaugural Events Of The Theodore Roosevelt Presidential Library on July 01, 2026 in Medora, North Dakota.  (Photo by Leigh Vogel\/Getty Images for Theodore Roosevelt Presidential Library)<\/span><span class=\"caption__source\" data-testid=\"caption__source\">Leigh Vogel \/ Getty Images<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p id=\"anchor-fa7f21\" class=\"body-graf\">Lindell has faced several legal challenges since 2020, when he championed Trump\u2019s debunked theories about the 2020 presidential election, which former President Joe Biden won.<\/p>\n<p id=\"anchor-b4ca40\" class=\"body-graf\">At a Minnesota Farmfest forum earlier this month, Klobuchar appeared alongside three GOP candidates for governor and accused them each of being \u201ca rubber stamp of Donald Trump.\u201d<\/p>\n<p id=\"anchor-fb01c2\" class=\"body-graf\">But Demuth and other Republicans \u2014 including Trump \u2014 have attacked Democrats in the blue state over two sprawling fraud scandals involving <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nbcnews.com\/news\/us-news\/minnesota-medicaid-fraud-charges-autism-rcna346363\" target=\"_blank\">Medicaid<\/a> and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nbcnews.com\/news\/us-news\/prosecutors-seek-50-year-sentence-nonprofit-leader-center-sprawling-mi-rcna346261\" target=\"_blank\">pandemic aid<\/a>. The allegations include hundreds of millions of dollars in stolen money that had been earmarked for welfare programs.<\/p>\n<p id=\"anchor-94e63a\" class=\"body-graf\">At the farm event, Demuth blamed \u201cincompetent Democrat control\u201d for the fraud cases, and she has pointed on the campaign trail to the Fraud Prevention Agency Oversight Committee she established while leading the state House.<\/p>\n<p id=\"anchor-10c01d\" class=\"body-graf\">In January, Democratic Gov. Tim Walz, who had planned to run for a third term, decided to <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nbcnews.com\/politics\/2026-election\/minnesota-gov-tim-walz-says-dropping-re-election-bid-rcna252300\" target=\"_blank\">drop his re-election campaign<\/a>, citing the attacks over the fraud cases. A few weeks later, Klobuchar <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nbcnews.com\/politics\/2026-election\/sen-amy-klobuchar-jumps-minnesota-governors-race-rcna252390\" target=\"_blank\">launched<\/a> her campaign. She is one of four senators to seek the governorship in their home state this year.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"styles_inlineImage__FvnTh styles_medium__MEKii\" id=\"anchor-6f1f31\"><picture class=\"styles_image__i32F7\" data-testid=\"picture\" data-flavor=\"fit\" data-original-height=\"1467\" data-original-width=\"2200\"><source media=\"(min-width: 1000px)\" srcset=\"https:\/\/media-cldnry.s-nbcnews.com\/image\/upload\/t_fit-560w,f_avif,q_auto:eco,dpr_2\/rockcms\/2026-08\/260809-Amy-Klobuchar-aa-611-6caf76.jpg 2x, https:\/\/media-cldnry.s-nbcnews.com\/image\/upload\/t_fit-560w,f_auto,q_auto:best\/rockcms\/2026-08\/260809-Amy-Klobuchar-aa-611-6caf76.jpg 1x\"\/><source media=\"(min-width: 320px)\" srcset=\"https:\/\/media-cldnry.s-nbcnews.com\/image\/upload\/t_fit-760w,f_avif,q_auto:eco,dpr_2\/rockcms\/2026-08\/260809-Amy-Klobuchar-aa-611-6caf76.jpg 2x, https:\/\/media-cldnry.s-nbcnews.com\/image\/upload\/t_fit-760w,f_auto,q_auto:best\/rockcms\/2026-08\/260809-Amy-Klobuchar-aa-611-6caf76.jpg 1x\"\/><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/media-cldnry.s-nbcnews.com\/image\/upload\/t_fit-760w,f_auto,q_auto:best\/rockcms\/2026-08\/260809-Amy-Klobuchar-aa-611-6caf76.jpg\" alt=\"Senate Commerce Committee Holds Hearing Examining Sports Betting In America\" height=\"1467\" width=\"2200\"\/><\/picture><figcaption class=\"caption styles_caption__TCewG\" data-testid=\"caption\"><span class=\"caption__container\" data-testid=\"caption__container\">Sen. Amy Klobuchar (D-MN) at the U.S. Capitol in May.<\/span><span class=\"caption__source\" data-testid=\"caption__source\">Heather Diehl \/ Getty Images<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p id=\"anchor-34a30a\" class=\"endmark body-graf\">Still, Republicans will have to overcome political trends in Minnesota in November to win the governor\u2019s mansion. Then-Vice President Kamala Harris won the state by <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nbcnews.com\/politics\/2024-elections\/minnesota-president-results\" target=\"_blank\">about 4 percentage points<\/a> in the most recent presidential election, where Walz ran as her running mate. <\/p>\n<\/div>\n<script async=\"async\" data-cfasync=\"false\" src=\"https:\/\/pl30214220.effectivecpmnetwork.com\/9ab3d4df8a7e1a6171e16ddbf732cc19\/invoke.js\"><\/script>\r\n<div id=\"container-9ab3d4df8a7e1a6171e16ddbf732cc19\"><\/div>\r\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Minnesota state House Speaker Lisa Demuth won the Republican primary for governor of the state, NBC News projects, defeating Trump ally Mike Lindell and setting up a general election matchup against Democratic Sen. Amy Klobuchar. Demuth\u2019s primary victory was an upset against Lindell, the MyPillow founder and election conspiracy theorist. Lindell had been leading in&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":40436,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/media-cldnry.s-nbcnews.com\/image\/upload\/t_nbcnews-fp-1200-630,f_auto,q_auto:best\/rockcms\/2026-08\/260809-Lisa-Demuth-aa-612-3eeb3e.jpg","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-40435","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news-hub"],"brizy_media":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/40435","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=40435"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/40435\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/40436"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=40435"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=40435"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=40435"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}