Minnesota GOP Primary: Demuth Beats Lindell

Minnesota’s GOP primary for governor ended with a clear setback for MyPillow founder Mike Lindell, as State House Speaker Lisa Demuth took the nomination and moved into the fall race to replace outgoing Gov. Tim Walz. In the Democratic contest, Sen. Amy Klobuchar won easily and will head into November as the heavy favorite.

Demuth beat Lindell and Army veteran and businessman Kendall Qualls in a crowded Republican field, leading by more than 15 percentage points when the race was called. The first Black lawmaker and first Republican woman to serve as speaker of the Minnesota House, Demuth built her campaign around fraud prevention and said she would move quickly on a “Fraud Prevention Plan” if elected. She told voters that state government should stop “shoveling out taxpayer dollars first and asking questions later” and instead become, in her words, a “fiscal and moral steward” of tax money.

Lindell had the backing of President Trump, who urged Minnesota voters on Truth Social to turn out for him and called him a man who had worked hard in the fight for free and fair elections. Trump also said Lindell “will not let you down.” Even so, the endorsement did not carry the day in a state where the former president has never won. Lindell also lacked the support of the Republican establishment, which backed Qualls in May.

The MyPillow founder’s campaign carried plenty of national baggage. He announced his run last December at his factory in Shakopee and told The Post beforehand that he was the most qualified person to “save” Minnesota. Lindell has long been one of Trump’s loudest allies and helped push claims that the 2020 election was rigged. In June, he settled a $1.3 billion defamation lawsuit brought by Dominion Voting Systems over his unfounded allegations that the company’s software manipulated vote counts in 2020.

On the Democratic side, Klobuchar faced no serious intraparty threat after several prominent Democrats, including state Lt. Gov. Peggy Flanagan, Attorney General Keith Ellison and fellow Sen. Tina Smith, declined to run. Klobuchar, who has represented Minnesota in the Senate since 2007, launched her campaign in late January after Walz said he would not seek a third term. Her decision came as the state was dealing with a major benefit fraud scandal that has drawn attention from the Trump administration.