Topline

MyPillow founder Mike Lindell lost to Minnesota House Speaker Lisa Demuth in Tuesday’s GOP gubernatorial primary for the state—but Lindell, a prominent promoter of President Donald Trump’s 2020 election fraud claims—refused to immediately concede.

Key Facts

The Associated Press called the race for Demuth at 11:26 p.m. ET as the state speaker had secured 43.6% of the 93% of the votes counted.

Lindell, who was backed by President Donald Trump, came a distant second with 32.3%% of the votes.

Kendall Qualls, a former healthcare executive who has backed the Minnesota GOP, placed third with 21.4% of the vote.

Sen. Amy Klobuchar won the Democratic primary with 89.6% of the votes, and polls show her with a wide lead in the general election.

Lindell told reporters after the race was called his team needed “a day” to review the results, claiming, without evidence, they’ve “seen a couple of anomalies.”

Lindell is a close ally of Trump, who wrote on Truth Social on Tuesday that Lindell “deserves a BIG WIN IN MINNESOTA today,” adding, “Nobody has worked harder, and given up so much, in fighting for free and fair Elections.”

The MyPillow founder’s loss adds him to a small but growing list of GOP candidates who have failed to win their primaries despite being backed by the president.

Tangent

Lindell has faced several controversies during the campaign. The Minnesota Republican Party questioned whether Lindell has lived in the state long enough to meet the qualifications for governor. Lindell said he lived in Texas as recently as last year, but moved back to Minnesota before the one-year deadline prior to the Nov. 3 general election to qualify as a candidate. A judge also found probable cause last week that Lindell may have violated campaign laws by giving out pillows in packaging that said “Mike Lindell for Governor” during a July Fourth parade. Lindell, who stepped down as CEO of MyPillow, settled a $1 billion defamation suit with Dominion Voting Systems last month after the company sued him for spreading false claims the company rigged the 2020 presidential election.

Key Background

Walz, Kamala Harris’ running mate in the 2024 presidential election, announced in January he would not seek a third term following revelations of a massive welfare and social services fraud scheme. Walz said he was dropping out of the race to focus on his work as governor and deal with the fallout of the fraud scheme. Federal prosecutors have estimated the amount stolen could top $9 billion, a figure Walz has disputed, but has acknowledged could stretch into the billions. Trump and his allies have used the scheme to target Walz’s Democratic administration and the state’s Somali community, as some of the defendants are of Somali descent. The case involves multiple programs that receive public funding across child services, education, daycares and food security.