ST. PAUL, Minnesota — President Donald Trump’s endorsement failed to carry longtime ally Mike Lindell through Minnesota’s Republican gubernatorial primary Tuesday, as state House Speaker Lisa Demuth won the nomination with a broad victory across the state.
Trump endorsed the former MyPillow CEO in July and made a last-minute push on his behalf, telling Minnesota Republicans that Lindell “deserves a BIG WIN.” Lindell has remained one of Trump’s most prominent allies and one of the country’s most persistent promoters of false claims that the 2020 presidential election was stolen.
Republican voters nevertheless chose Demuth, dealing Trump a noticeable setback in a primary where his personal intervention did not overcome support for the state party’s more conventional candidate. Reuters described the result as another test of Trump’s influence over Republican voters ahead of the midterms.
Demuth had positioned herself as a conservative focused on state issues, particularly fraud in government programs, while Lindell leaned heavily on Trump’s backing, immigration, election security and his outsider-businessman image.
The result also demonstrates the limits of presidential endorsements: Trump remains overwhelmingly influential inside the GOP, but Republican primary voters do not automatically follow his recommendations.
Demuth will now face Democratic Sen. Amy Klobuchar, who easily won her party’s gubernatorial primary. Minnesota has not elected a Republican governor since Tim Pawlenty won reelection in 2006, making Demuth the underdog heading into November.
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