Trump comes up short with Lindell in Minnesota gubernatorial primary
Developing story first seen 5 hours ago
Minnesota state Rep. Lisa Demuth (R) was projected to win the Republican primary for governor of the North Star State, Decision Desk HQ projects, dealing a blow to President Trump. Trump had endorsed Republican businessman Mike Lindell, the “My Pillow Guy” whom a judge ruled defamed the election tech company Smartmatic with false statements about…
New here? Start with this
Republicans in Minnesota held a primary election to choose their candidate for governor in the upcoming race. Two of the contenders were Lisa Demuth, a state representative, and Mike Lindell, a businessman best known as the founder of the "My Pillow" company and for his prominent support of Donald Trump. Trump had publicly backed Lindell for the nomination.
Lindell has been a controversial figure since 2020, when he became one of the most vocal promoters of false claims about that year's presidential election. A court later found that he defamed Smartmatic, a company that makes election technology, by falsely linking its systems to voter fraud.
The outcome of this primary matters because it tests whether a Trump endorsement is still enough to guarantee a candidate wins a Republican contest, and because Minnesota's governorship is a significant statewide office. The winner of the Republican primary will go on to face other parties' candidates in the general election.
Both sides, in good faith
The strongest fair case each way — we don't pick a winner.
The case for
Supporters of the Trump-Lindell approach argue that party leaders should back candidates who share their conviction that the 2020 election process deserves ongoing scrutiny, and that a presidential endorsement reflects loyalty to allies who took political and legal risks on that cause. They see Lindell as an outsider businessman willing to spend his own resources challenging what he views as entrenched voting-system vulnerabilities, and argue primary voters should reward that willingness to fight rather than defer to establishment picks. From this perspective, an endorsement loss is simply democracy working as intended, not evidence the underlying concerns were wrong to raise.
The case against
Critics argue that Demuth's win shows Republican primary voters exercising independent judgement rather than simply following a presidential endorsement, which they see as healthy for the party and for democratic norms more broadly. They note that a court found Lindell's specific claims against Smartmatic to be defamatory, and argue voters were reasonable to prefer a candidate with a cleaner legal and legislative record and a stronger chance of winning the general election. On this view, the result reflects pragmatic concerns about electability and credibility rather than any rejection of conservative principles.
More coverage
Art Business Celebrity Companies Culture Elections Entertainment Geopolitics Government Politics