Mike Lindell Lost the Minnesota Governor Primary but Won't Admit It
Mike Lindell refused to concede Minnesota's Republican primary for governor on the morning of August 12, 2026, even though he was losing to Lisa Demuth by more than 45,000 votes with nearly all ballots counted. The Associated Press, a major news organization that reports election results, had declared Demuth the winner on Tuesday night, August 11. With almost all votes counted, Demuth led Lindell 43.4% to 32.5%, a gap of about 11 percentage points. The Guardian The Hill
Lindell, the former CEO of MyPillow, entered the governor's race in December 2025 as a strong supporter of President Donald Trump. After the results came in, he said the Associated Press had no authority to decide the outcome. He claimed that hundreds of thousands of votes had not yet been counted. On his streaming channel, LindellTV, he said he would not give up until every vote was counted. Earlier on election day, he told reporters he wanted to investigate the votes that gave Demuth the win before conceding. MPR News The Guardian
Kendall Qualls, the candidate supported by the Minnesota Republican state party, finished third. The party's chosen candidate could not gather enough support to pass either Demuth or Lindell. Donald Trump made a late push for Lindell on August 11, urging Minnesota Republicans on social media to give him a big win. That endorsement did not help Lindell at the polls.
Lindell's refusal to concede fits a pattern. In July 2026, he settled a $1.3 billion lawsuit brought by a voting technology company called Liberty Vote, previously known as Dominion Voting Systems. The company sued him because of his claims that voting machines were used to steal the 2020 presidential election. His refusal to accept the AP's call in his own primary reflects the same stance he has taken about past elections.
Demuth, who is the Speaker of the Minnesota House of Representatives, became the first woman to win a Minnesota Republican nomination for governor. The Hill She will face Democratic Senator Amy Klobuchar in the November 2026 general election. The winner will replace Governor Tim Walz, who is retiring. Klobuchar easily won her own primary.
Minnesota's primary night also produced other notable results. Peggy Flanagan won the Democratic primary for US Senate, earning the nomination to replace Senator Tina Smith. Flanagan had Smith's endorsement, while Governor Walz did not make an endorsement in that race. On the Republican side, Tafoya won a US Senate primary on the same night. AP News Star Tribune
Lindell's campaign had an unusual registration problem. For weeks during the race, he was not registered to vote in Minnesota. His voter registration was still active in Texas, tied to a property owned by a company in Lufkin. Minnesota allows voters to register on the same day they vote, so Lindell could still cast a ballot and legally run for governor despite the issue. The Guardian
Lindell's loss also adds to a series of defeats for candidates endorsed by Trump in 2026. In House races in Tennessee and Michigan, Trump-backed candidates Andy Ogles and Amir Hassan both lost. Hassan even lost to a candidate who had already dropped out of the race.
The broader context here involves a growing tension between how elections are normally called and a group of candidates who reject those calls when they lose. The Associated Press does not actually "decide" who wins. It projects a winner based on vote counts and statistical analysis once the remaining uncounted votes are too few to change the result. Lindell's claim that the AP overstepped its role, rather than simply making a projection, reuses an argument that became common in legal challenges after the 2020 election.
For Minnesota Republicans, the primary produced a nominee with experience in government. Demuth's role as House Speaker gives her a record of leadership to point to, and her historic nomination could appeal to suburban and moderate voters the party needs in a general election against a well-known sitting senator. Whether Lindell's refusal to concede creates lasting doubt among Republican voters, or fades as the general election campaign gets underway, will affect how well the party can come together behind Demuth in the months ahead.
