BREAKING: Trump-Backed “Pillow Guy” Mike Lindell Loses Minnesota Governor Primary
Trump personally endorsed Mike Lindell for Minnesota governor and said he “deserves a BIG WIN.” Minnesota Republicans said no thanks.
Minnesota House Speaker Lisa Demuth defeated Lindell in Tuesday’s GOP primary, dealing Trump another loss on his election scorecard. Lindell, the former MyPillow CEO who stepped down last week to campaign full time, spent months leaning on his relationship with Trump and racing to a nine point polling lead after the endorsement landed. It still wasn’t enough to close the deal.
Lindell wasn’t even the Minnesota Republican Party’s own pick. State GOP delegates had already endorsed a different candidate, Kendall Qualls, at their convention months earlier. On top of that, Lindell was fighting his own party’s questions about his residency, and a judge had just found probable cause that he violated state campaign law by handing out free pillows at parades. Trump backed him anyway, and Minnesota Republicans still walked away.
Demuth, the first Black lawmaker and first Republican woman to serve as Speaker of the Minnesota House, will now face Sen. Amy Klobuchar in November after Klobuchar easily secured the Democratic nomination. Klobuchar jumped into the race after Gov. Tim Walz ended his bid for a third term amid a sprawling state fraud scandal
A Trump endorsement, a nine point polling lead, and a candidate who spent years pushing 2020 election conspiracy theories still couldn’t beat a state legislator who actually did the work. Minnesota Republicans chose competence over loyalty to Trump, and now Amy Klobuchar gets to make her case in November.