Mike Lindell, the MyPillow founder and outspoken Trump ally, endured a stinging loss in Minnesota’s Republican gubernatorial primary, falling short despite securing Donald Trump’s high-profile endorsement.
With results in Tuesday night, Lindell captured 32 percent of the vote, while Minnesota House Speaker Lisa Demuth pulled ahead decisively with 45 percent.
Lindell went into primary day as the best-known figure in the Republican race, boosted by what is widely seen as one of the most influential endorsements in GOP politics.
Yet even with Trump’s backing, the longtime pillow entrepreneur was unable to convince enough Minnesota Republican voters that he was the right choice.
Demuth’s late momentum underscored the unease Lindell faced inside Minnesota’s Republican establishment, where many were caught off guard when Trump inserted himself into the contest.
Demuth now moves on to confront a far more formidable opponent in Senator Amy Klobuchar, with prediction markets giving Democrats a 94 percent chance of prevailing in November.
Lindell’s primary defeat marks a notable blow for Trump and is likely to fuel renewed debate over the reach of his political influence as Republicans approach the midterm elections amid the Iran war and persistent inflation concerns.
Trump made a last-minute push on Lindell’s behalf on election morning, posting on Truth Social in an effort to rally Minnesota Republicans behind his chosen candidate.
President Donald Trump reiterated his support for Lindell on election day in a Truth Social post, urging Minnesota Republicans to turn out and vote for the businessman (pictured in March 2020)
Despite the Trump factor, the pillow salesman failed to sell himself to voters
‘Mike Lindell deserves a BIG WIN IN MINNESOTA today,’ Trump wrote, praising Lindell for what he called his fight for ‘free and fair Elections’ and urging voters to ‘Go out, NOW, and VOTE for Mike Lindell for Governor.’
But even Trump’s last-minute intervention could not save the MyPillow founder as Demuth spent the closing days of the campaign consolidating local support and sparking prediction odds to flip over last week.
Trump had endorsed Lindell in July, calling him one of America’s hardest-working supporters and urging Minnesota Republicans to send him to the governor’s mansion.
The endorsement was supposed to transform a volatile primary into a clear test of Trump’s power over the state Republican electorate.
Instead, Lindell became the latest Trump-backed candidate to discover that the president’s endorsement is not always enough to guarantee victory.
Trump’s endorsement losses remain rare but have become increasingly glaring as the year progresses toward the big ballot test in November.
Representative Randy Feenstra lost the Iowa Republican primary for governor to businessman Zach Lahn despite Trump’s endorsement.
In Georgia, Trump-backed Lieutenant Governor Burt Jones lost the Republican gubernatorial runoff to businessman Rick Jackson.
Lisa Demuth will now face Senator Amy Klobuchar who poses a significant challenge to Republican chances in November
Lindell walks past a crowd of supporters during a rally for Donald Trump in January 2022 in Florence, Arizona
And in Tennessee, Representative Andy Ogles was defeated in his Republican primary by former Agriculture Commissioner Charlie Hatcher.
Trump’s Republican base is showing signs of cracks as economic worries, the Iran war and his controversial immigration crackdown begin to take their toll.
A late-July Quinnipiac poll found that 76 percent of Republicans approved of Trump’s job performance — down sharply from 85 percent just one month earlier.
AP-NORC likewise found Republican approval of Trump’s handling of the economy plunging from 74 percent to 62 percent in just one month.
The warning signs extend beyond his core base. A June PRRI poll found favorability among less-committed Republicans falling from 70 percent to 63 percent, while Republican-leaning independents plunged from 65 percent to just 48 percent.
Trump remains overwhelmingly popular among his strongest Republican supporters, but the numbers suggest that the political pain from the economy, high prices, the Iran conflict and immigration enforcement is beginning to dent his own coalition.
Lindell went from a businessman best known for his late-night television commercials to one of Trump’s most devoted political allies.
Lindell also secured backing from CPAC and the national grassroots group United Republicans, giving his campaign a formidable network of national conservative support.
Lindell arrives for the 2023 Republican National Committee Winter Meeting in Dana Point, California, on January 27, 2023
But back home in Minnesota, the picture was very different.
The state GOP endorsed rival Kendall Qualls, while the Minnesota Gun Owners PAC backed Demuth.
Minnesota GOP Chairman Alex Plechash made clear that the party had concerns about Trump’s decision to endorse Lindell.
In a July 15 statement, Plechash said Minnesota Republicans should choose the candidate ‘best positioned to defeat Amy Klobuchar,’ while pointing to Lindell’s financial problems and what he described as ‘significant electability concerns.’
He also emphasized that other Republican candidates had spent years building the party.
Lindell had campaigned on a broad conservative agenda centered on election integrity, cutting taxes and government spending, cracking down on fraud, and restoring what he described as accountability and transparency to state government.
He also made school choice and parental rights major parts of his platform, while calling for tougher policies on crime and illegal immigration, expanded energy production and mining, and greater support for Minnesota farmers and rural communities.
On social issues, Lindell positioned himself as firmly pro-life and pro-family, promising to make Minnesota a more conservative state after years of Democratic control.
But his campaign brought enormous national attention at a staggering price.
His increasingly vocal role in challenging the 2020 election results transformed him from a successful bedding entrepreneur into a deeply polarizing national political figure.
Lindell poured millions of dollars into his political efforts and election-related activism, while his claims about voting machines and widespread election fraud triggered a series of high-profile legal battles.
He faced lawsuits from voting-technology companies that accused him of spreading false and damaging claims about their businesses.
His financial troubles mounted, with creditors and business partners becoming embroiled in the consequences of his increasingly expensive political crusade.
Lindell has also openly described years of cocaine and crack addiction, gambling and financial turmoil that nearly destroyed his life. At one point, his drug use had become so severe that he said he was spending days on binges while struggling to keep his pillow business alive.
Lindell says he overcame his addiction in 2009 after turning to Christianity, later transforming that story into a central part of his public persona.
Minnesota’s results raise a broader question for Republicans heading into the November midterms: how much of Trump’s political power belongs to the President himself, and how much depends on whether his preferred candidates can connect with voters in their own states?
