Election denier Mike Lindell denies own double-digit loss in Minnesota GOP governor primary

Pillow magnate and election conspiracist Mike Lindell is refusing to concede after losing his race to be the GOP’s candidate for Minnesota governor. Instead, he alleges that people on his election team found “a couple anomalies” in the vote tally, calling the results into question. 

Lindell — a towering figure in the election denial movement and founder of the company MyPillow — lost to Minnesota House Speaker Lisa Demuth (R) by more than 10 percentage points. The Associated Press called the race for Demuth late Tuesday evening, but Lindell was unconvinced and refused to bow out.

“Why would I listen to the AP?” Lindell said, telling reporters at his election party that he would wait until all votes were counted. 

But by Wednesday morning, after more than 95% of votes were counted, Lindell still refused to admit he lost and said that people on his team found “anomalies” in the tally.

“When I’m favored by nine [points] three days ago, that’s something you got to look into,” Lindell said. “It just doesn’t make sense, you guys.”

Actually, it made a lot of sense.

Lindell was endorsed by President Donald Trump, but his campaign was marred by his political baggage and legal debt, a muddled message, and scandals — including a potential violation of campaign finance laws for handing out free pillows at a July 4 public event.

Lindell also failed to secure the Minnesota GOP’s official endorsement during the party’s annual state convention. Moreover, despite Trump’s endorsement, Lindell drew the ire of MAGA last month when he proposed an immigration policy plan that would grant six months of amnesty for undocumented immigrants to obtain a work visa. After an intense backlash, he quickly reversed course. 

In the days before the election, polling showed Lindell ahead, but Demuth was only a few points behind. And over the last several weeks, primary results have repeatedly defied polling predictions.

But it’s no surprise — and, actually, quite on brand — that Lindell would dispute the results of his own election.

In the aftermath of the 2020 election, he rose to political prominence for pushing the false claim that compromised voting machines flipped votes for Trump to Joe Biden. Lindell then built his political brand on spreading false claims of election fraud. 

In 2021, he launched LindellTV, which has since evolved into a full-fledged media platform that’s home to his podcast and hosts other prominent election deniers and far-right media personalities. And he frequently appears on other election denier podcasts, where he’s said that he regularly meets with Trump to discuss anti-voting measures and election conspiracies.