MyPillow founder Mike Lindell refused to concede the Minnesota Republican gubernatorial primary after losing to Minnesota House Speaker Forbes on Tuesday, August 11, 2026. Despite trailing by a double-digit margin and watching The Associated Press call the race late Tuesday night, Lindell dismissed the results on his live network, LindellTV.
Mike Lindell Refuses to Concede Minnesota Republican Primary
With nearly all votes counted, Demuth secured 43.4% or 43.5% of the vote, finishing more than 45,000 votes or 11 points ahead of Lindell, according to The Guardian and People.com. Lindell finished in second place with 32.3% to 32.5% of the vote, while Kendall Qualls, a former healthcare executive and businessman backed by the Minnesota Republican Party, placed third with 21.4% of the vote.
When told that the AP had declared the race over, the 65-year-old candidate questioned the wire service’s authority. Why would I listen to the AP?
Lindell said on LindellTV, claiming that hundreds of thousands of votes remained uncounted. I’m not going to give up this race until the votes are counted. That’s nonsense.
Lindell later informed reporters that his team needed “a day” to review the outcome, claiming without evidence that they had seen a couple of anomalies.
Endorsements and Presidential Support
Lindell’s campaign received a late personal push from Donald Trump, who posted on Truth Social on Tuesday urging Minnesota Republicans to give Lindell a decisive win. Nobody has worked harder, and given up so much, in fighting for free and fair Elections,
Trump wrote, adding that Lindell deserves a BIG WIN IN MINNESOTA today.
Despite the president’s backing, Lindell’s defeat added him to a growing list of candidates endorsed by Trump who failed to win their primaries. Trump has also previously failed to carry Minnesota in three consecutive presidential elections.
Demuth’s victory makes her the first woman to win a Minnesota Republican gubernatorial nomination. She called the milestone important but noted that her campaign’s work was “not done yet.”
General Election Matchup and Campaign Controversies
Demuth will advance to face Democratic Senator Amy Klobuchar in the November 3 general election. Klobuchar easily won the Democratic primary with 89.6% of the votes to secure the nomination to succeed the retiring governor, Tim Walz. Polls indicate Klobuchar holds a wide lead heading into the general election.
Lindell’s primary campaign faced multiple controversies leading up to election day. The Minnesota Republican Party questioned whether Lindell satisfied residency requirements to run for governor, noting he had lived in Texas as recently as last year. Lindell stated he moved back to Minnesota before the one-year candidate qualification deadline, and Minnesota’s same-day registration rules allowed him to cast a ballot and run regardless.
Additionally, a judge found probable cause that Lindell may have violated campaign laws during a July Fourth parade by handing out pillows packaged with labels reading Mike Lindell for Governor.
The primary defeat follows a turbulent period for the MyPillow founder, who stepped down as CEO and settled a defamation lawsuit with voting technology company Dominion Voting Systems—now known as Liberty Vote—regarding false claims that the company rigged the 2020 presidential election.
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