{"id":40467,"date":"2026-08-12T08:59:30","date_gmt":"2026-08-12T03:59:30","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/?p=40467"},"modified":"2026-08-12T08:59:30","modified_gmt":"2026-08-12T03:59:30","slug":"trump-backed-election-denier-mike-lindell-loses-minnesota-gop-gubernatorial-primary","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/?p=40467","title":{"rendered":"Trump-Backed Election Denier Mike Lindell Loses Minnesota GOP Gubernatorial Primary"},"content":{"rendered":"<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\r\n<br><div id=\"article-content\">\n            \n\n\n<p>Pillow magnate and election denier Mike Lindell lost a high-stakes Minnesota GOP gubernatorial primary on Tuesday, despite receiving an endorsement from President Donald Trump last month. He also lost the Minnesota Republican Party\u2019s endorsement in the race in June to former health care executive and army veteran, Kendall Qualls.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n<!-- \/wp:post-content -->\n\n<!-- wp:paragraph -->\n<p>Despite the state Republican Party\u2019s backing of another candidate, Lindell remained in the race, confident he would win the primary, <a href=\"https:\/\/talkingpointsmemo.com\/the-brief\/mike-lindell-has-a-real-shot-at-becoming-minnesotas-republican-candidate-for-governor\" target=\"_blank\">and polls over the past week even indicated he had a shot.<\/a> He <a href=\"https:\/\/talkingpointsmemo.com\/the-franchise\/lindell-is-really-optimistic-for-someone-who-just-lost-the-gop-gubernatorial-endorsement-a-perfect-scenario\" target=\"_blank\">told TPM<\/a> in June that his focus was on \u201ccampaigning against Amy Klobuchar, and these numbers should take care of itself when the people vote in August.\u201d<\/p>\n<!-- \/wp:paragraph -->\n\n<!-- wp:paragraph -->\n<p>\u201cIt doesn\u2019t matter who the Republican is, the people want me,\u201d he told TPM in June.<\/p>\n<!-- \/wp:paragraph -->\n\n<!-- wp:paragraph -->\n<p>With 73% of votes counted, the Associated Press <a href=\"https:\/\/apnews.com\/projects\/elections-2026\/minnesota-primary-results-governor\/#GOP\" target=\"_blank\">called the race<\/a> for Republican state House Speaker Lisa Demuth just before 11:30 p.m. ET Tuesday. Lindell received 31.3% of the vote to Demuth\u2019s 44.7%. Qualls trailed them both at 21.4%. <\/p>\n<!-- \/wp:paragraph -->\n\n<!-- wp:paragraph -->\n<p>Demuth will now face off against Sen. Amy Klobuchar (D-MN), who secured the official Democratic-Farmer-Labor Party endorsement for governor in June, and won the DFL gubernatorial primary Tuesday night with <a href=\"https:\/\/apnews.com\/projects\/elections-2026\/minnesota-primary-results-governor\/#Dem\" target=\"_blank\">over <\/a>89% of the vote. Both candidates are vying to replace Democratic Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, who <a href=\"https:\/\/www.theguardian.com\/us-news\/2026\/jan\/05\/tim-walz-minnesota-governor-reelection\" target=\"_blank\">announced<\/a> earlier this year that he would not run for a third term. The last Republican to hold the office of governor in Minnesota was Tim Pawlenty, who won his first term in 2003 and served until 2011.\u00a0<\/p>\n<!-- \/wp:paragraph -->\n\n<!-- wp:paragraph -->\n<p>Lindell may not suffer the loss quietly. The MyPillow Guy has been at the forefront of the 2020 election denial movement and continues to promote false claims about election fraud and his wild and widely debunked allegations about the supposed dangers of voting machines. In March of this year, Lindell was <a href=\"https:\/\/talkingpointsmemo.com\/the-franchise\/mike-lindell-wont-let-a-pesky-contempt-of-court-finding-get-him-down\" target=\"_blank\">held in contempt of court<\/a> by a Trump-appointed federal judge for not paying over $50,000 in sanctions to the voting machine company Smartmatic. The sanctions were related to a \u201cfrivolous\u201d lawsuit Lindell brought against the voting machine company in the wake of the 2020 election.<\/p>\n<!-- \/wp:paragraph --><!-- \/wp:paragraph -->\n\n<!-- wp:paragraph -->\n<p>Lindell received Donald Trump\u2019s endorsement in July. Trump <a href=\"https:\/\/truthsocial.com\/@realDonaldTrump\/posts\/116923765602106745\" target=\"_blank\">described<\/a> his longtime ally in election denialism as \u201cone of America\u2019s greatest and most hard working Patriots.\u201d Lindell\u2019s <a href=\"https:\/\/thehill.com\/homenews\/campaign\/5984540-lindell-tafoya-gains-gop-lead\/\" target=\"_blank\">polling<\/a> surged following Trump\u2019s endorsement.\u00a0<\/p>\n<!-- \/wp:paragraph -->\n\n<!-- wp:paragraph -->\n<p>He also recently announced his decision to step down from his post as CEO of MyPillow to focus on his gubernatorial run.\u00a0<\/p>\n<!-- \/wp:paragraph -->\n\n<!-- wp:paragraph -->\n<p>\u201cThis decision is not about walking away,\u201d he said in a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.cbsnews.com\/minnesota\/news\/mike-lindell-mypillow-stepping-down-ceo\/\" target=\"_blank\">statement<\/a>. \u201cIt is about stepping forward to serve. I am putting Minnesota above myself, my title, and my business interests so I can give this campaign and the people of our state my full time, energy, and attention.\u201d<\/p>\n<!-- \/wp:paragraph -->\n\n<!-- wp:paragraph -->\n<p>His announcement to step down as CEO came against the backdrop of accusations that Lindell has <a href=\"https:\/\/www.mprnews.org\/story\/2026\/08\/06\/campaign-finance-complaint-against-mike-lindell-heads-to-hearing\" target=\"_blank\">violated campaign finance laws<\/a> by giving away free pillows during a July 4 parade. The matter will be heard by a panel of <a href=\"https:\/\/www.mprnews.org\/story\/2026\/08\/06\/campaign-finance-complaint-against-mike-lindell-heads-to-hearing\" target=\"_blank\">three-judge administrative panel<\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>\n<!-- \/wp:paragraph -->          <\/div><script type=\"text\/javascript\">\n    window.fbAsyncInit = function() {\n      FB.init({\n        appId: \"101800829865996\",\n        xfbml: true,\n        version: ' v2.6'\n      });\n      window.fbAsyncInit.__didInit = true;\n    };\n    (function(d, s, id) {\n      var js, fjs = d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0];\n      if (d.getElementById(id)) {\n        return;\n      }\n      js = d.createElement(s);\n      js.id = id;\n      js.src = \"https:\/\/connect.facebook.net\/en_US\/sdk.js\";\n      fjs.parentNode.insertBefore(js, fjs);\n    }(document, 'script', 'facebook-jssdk'));\n  <\/script>\r\n<br><script async=\"async\" data-cfasync=\"false\" src=\"https:\/\/pl30214220.effectivecpmnetwork.com\/9ab3d4df8a7e1a6171e16ddbf732cc19\/invoke.js\"><\/script>\r\n<div id=\"container-9ab3d4df8a7e1a6171e16ddbf732cc19\"><\/div>\r\n\r\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Pillow magnate and election denier Mike Lindell lost a high-stakes Minnesota GOP gubernatorial primary on Tuesday, despite receiving an endorsement from President Donald Trump last month. He also lost the Minnesota Republican Party\u2019s endorsement in the race in June to former health care executive and army veteran, Kendall Qualls. Despite the state Republican Party\u2019s backing&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":40468,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/talkingpointsmemo.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/GettyImages-2279275595.jpg?w=1200","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[17],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-40467","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-political-news"],"brizy_media":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/40467","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=40467"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/40467\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/40468"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=40467"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=40467"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=40467"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}