Pillow magnate and election denier Mike Lindell lost a high-stakes Minnesota GOP gubernatorial primary on Tuesday, despite receiving an endorsement from President Donald Trump last month. He also lost the Minnesota Republican Party’s endorsement in the race in June to former health care executive and army veteran, Kendall Qualls.
Despite the state Republican Party’s backing of another candidate, Lindell remained in the race, confident he would win the primary, and polls over the past week even indicated he had a shot. He told TPM in June that his focus was on “campaigning against Amy Klobuchar, and these numbers should take care of itself when the people vote in August.”
“It doesn’t matter who the Republican is, the people want me,” he told TPM in June.
With 73% of votes counted, the Associated Press called the race for Republican state House Speaker Lisa Demuth just before 11:30 p.m. ET Tuesday. Lindell received 31.3% of the vote to Demuth’s 44.7%. Qualls trailed them both at 21.4%.
Demuth will now face off against Sen. Amy Klobuchar (D-MN), who secured the official Democratic-Farmer-Labor Party endorsement for governor in June, and won the DFL gubernatorial primary Tuesday night with over 89% of the vote. Both candidates are vying to replace Democratic Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, who announced earlier this year that he would not run for a third term. The last Republican to hold the office of governor in Minnesota was Tim Pawlenty, who won his first term in 2003 and served until 2011.
Lindell may not suffer the loss quietly. The MyPillow Guy has been at the forefront of the 2020 election denial movement and continues to promote false claims about election fraud and his wild and widely debunked allegations about the supposed dangers of voting machines. In March of this year, Lindell was held in contempt of court by a Trump-appointed federal judge for not paying over $50,000 in sanctions to the voting machine company Smartmatic. The sanctions were related to a “frivolous” lawsuit Lindell brought against the voting machine company in the wake of the 2020 election.
Lindell received Donald Trump’s endorsement in July. Trump described his longtime ally in election denialism as “one of America’s greatest and most hard working Patriots.” Lindell’s polling surged following Trump’s endorsement.
He also recently announced his decision to step down from his post as CEO of MyPillow to focus on his gubernatorial run.
“This decision is not about walking away,” he said in a statement. “It is about stepping forward to serve. I am putting Minnesota above myself, my title, and my business interests so I can give this campaign and the people of our state my full time, energy, and attention.”
His announcement to step down as CEO came against the backdrop of accusations that Lindell has violated campaign finance laws by giving away free pillows during a July 4 parade. The matter will be heard by a panel of three-judge administrative panel.
I pray this is the end of Mike Lindell. He has had his 15 minutes of fame. At this point he is a pale parody of himself.
No one likes a carpetbagger.
Has anybody here seen Song Sung Blue? Jim Belushi was born to play Mike Lindell in any, preferably all, of the movies and series that the Trump era will spawn.
Pillow talk.
The final straw breaks the camel’s back. One person, usually referred to as “that guy” sets a chain of events in motion. For example, James McCord is often seen as the that guy in the Watergate Breakin, even if bigger heads eventually rolled. It seems like a certain Mike Obadal, Army Under Secretary, has been caught with this hand in the cookie jar. The everybody-does-it defense may not wash in this case. Obadal may just be that guy.