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Lindell refuses to concede
Mike Lindell, the MyPillow founder and Trump ally, refused to concede in Minnesota’s Republican gubernatorial primary after the Associated Press called the race for Lisa Demuth late on Tuesday night.
“Lisa Demuth, the Minnesota House speaker, late on Tuesday night”
With almost all votes counted, Demuth was more than 45,000 votes ahead of Lindell, and Lindell said on his live network, LindellTV, “I’m not going to give up this race until the votes are counted. That’s nonsense.”
Lindell questioned the AP’s authority to determine the outcome and insisted “hundreds of thousands of votes remained uncounted,” as he waited for votes to come in.
The People’s coverage also said Lindell, 65, lost by 11 points to Demuth, with the vote split described as 43.5% for Demuth and 32.5% for Lindell as the race was called just before 11:30 p.m. on Tuesday night.
The dispute set up a broader contest for the November general election, where Demuth would face Democratic Sen. Amy Klobuchar to replace retiring Democratic Gov. Tim Walz.
Quotes, irregularities, and party
Lindell’s refusal to concede was accompanied by claims of irregularities, with The Hill reporting that he alleged “irregularities in the vote totals” while saying, “There’s 265,000 votes left to count. I’m down by 18,000 now,” on LindellTV.
The Hill also described Trump’s last-minute push, quoting Trump’s Truth Social message: “Mike Lindell deserves a BIG WIN IN MINNESOTA today.”
Demuth, the Minnesota House speaker, was described by the Guardian as becoming the first woman to win a Minnesota Republican gubernatorial nomination, while she told reporters her campaign’s work was “not done yet”.
NPR’s account said Demuth, 59, advanced to run in the fall against Democratic Sen. Amy Klobuchar after the Associated Press called the GOP primary, and it described Republican leaders questioning Lindell’s electability and challenging his residency.
In the same reporting cycle, ABC News projected a separate Democratic primary win in Minnesota’s Senate race for Lt. Gov. Peggy Flanagan, who would face Republican nominee Michele Tafoya to replace retiring Sen. Tina Smith.
November stakes and next moves
The immediate consequence of the primary result is that Lisa Demuth will face Democratic Sen. Amy Klobuchar in November’s general election to succeed retiring Gov. Tim Walz, as NBC News projected after Demuth defeated Trump ally Mike Lindell.
“Demuth won the Republican primary for governor, NBC News projects, defeating Trump ally Mike Lindell”
NBC News framed the matchup as a test for Republicans in Minnesota, noting that Trump had failed to carry Minnesota in three consecutive presidential elections and that Demuth’s win set up the general election against Klobuchar.
Lindell’s next steps remained contested, with MPR News saying he told reporters his team needs to “reconcile these numbers” before conceding after the Associated Press called the race for Demuth.
Fox News Digital quoted Demuth describing the message of her victory as “lower taxes, improve education, and end that fraud,” linking her campaign to fraud concerns in state programs.
As the political focus shifts from the primary to the general election, the NPR report said Demuth’s campaign emphasized her ability to work across the aisle, while much of the attention in the primary centered on Lindell’s election-denial posture and Trump’s endorsement.
