Mike Lindell, CEO of a pillow company and a diehard MAGA fan of Donald Trump, was resoundingly defeated in the Minnesota gubernatorial Republican primary, despite getting Trump’s endorsement.
Taking a cue from Trump, Lindell has refused to concede the race.
Lindell lost to Minnesota House Speaker Lisa Demuth
On August 11, Lindell, 65, lost to Minnesota House Speaker Lisa Demuth by roughly 11 points, or 45,000 votes, according to NBC. The primary election is likely moot anyway, as it’s widely expected that the Democratic nominee, Amy Klobuchar, will cruise to victory in November, but Demuth’s victory could impact down-ballot Republicans in the state.
Lindell, himself a 2020 election denier, immediately began suggesting a conspiracy kept him from earning the nomination.
Kirsten Swanson of KSTP reported that Lindell claimed there were “anomalies” in the vote totals that he and his team would look into overnight.
Lindell ranted he would not listen to AP
As his electoral fate became clear, the MyPillow CEO ranted on his own online network, LindellTV, that he actually was still in the race, at one point claiming he would be ahead “within the hour.” When asked if he would concede if AP called the race, he replied, “Why would I listen to the AP? There’s 265,000 votes left to count. I’m down by 18,000 now. I’m not going to give up this race until the votes are counted. That’s nonsense.”
Another Trump loss
President Trump gave an eleventh-hour Truth Social endorsement for Lindell on election night, posting, “Mike Lindell deserves a BIG WIN IN MINNESOTA today. Nobody has worked harder, and given up so much, in fighting for free and fair Elections.”
The 80-year-old president also posted about Lindell in July, writing, “Nobody has sacrificed more than Mike Lindell in fighting for our country, especially when it comes to Election Integrity.”
Lindell has a long history of election denial
In the name of “election integrity,” Lindell “sacrificed” thousands of dollars in court-ordered fines for pushing unfounded conspiracies about voting machines in the 2020 presidential election.
Lindell was ordered to pay $56,369 to voting machine company Smartmatic USA in a defamation case. He also was sued for $1.3 billion by Dominion Voting Machines for defamation, though the settled out of court for an untold sum.
Lindell’s loss marks another defeat for a Trump-backed candidate this cycle. Trump-backed congressional candidate Andy Ogles lost his Tennessee primary in early August. Before that, Amir Hassan lost his Michigan primary to a candidate who had quit campaigning.