Mike Lindell Bets His Governor Bid on Trump After His Own Party Snubbed Him

Minnesota Republicans head to the polls Tuesday, August 11, in a gubernatorial primary that has exposed a rift within the state party. MyPillow founder Mike Lindell has leaned heavily on President Trump’s endorsement, secured in mid-July, even though the state Republican convention backed a different candidate ahead of the primary. Lindell, a longtime Trump ally who has continued to deny that Trump lost the 2020 election, has surged in polling since receiving the endorsement, putting him in a tight three-way race against Kendall Qualls and Lisa Demuth [1].

Whoever wins the Republican nomination will face presumptive Democratic nominee Sen. Amy Klobuchar in the general election, in a state where Trump himself has lost every presidential race he’s contested [2].

Why It Sucks:

Trump-Aligned Republicans

• Loyalty to the president should decide the race. Supporters argue Trump’s endorsement reflects who can best carry his agenda into the governor’s mansion, and that primary voters, not a state convention of insiders, should have the final say [1].
• The base is energized, and that matters in November. Lindell’s polling surge since the endorsement shows grassroots enthusiasm that establishment-favored candidates haven’t generated, which the MAGA wing sees as the only path to competing statewide [1].
• Party gatekeepers keep picking losers. Trump loyalists point to the convention’s choice of an alternative candidate as more of the same insider maneuvering they believe has kept Minnesota Republicans out of the governor’s office for two decades [1].

GOP Establishment

• Lindell is a general-election liability. Establishment Republicans worry that nominating a candidate best known for election-fraud claims and MyPillow ads hands Klobuchar an easy contrast in a state Trump has never won [1, 2].
• The convention process is being overridden by one endorsement. Party regulars argue that months of vetting and organizing at the state convention are being erased by a single Trump social media post, undermining the party’s own internal process [1].
• A divisive primary bleeds into the general. Strategists fear the three-way split and open feuding over legitimacy will leave the eventual nominee bruised and underfunded heading into a tough race against a well-known incumbent senator [1].

Minnesota Democrats

• A chaotic GOP primary is a gift, but a troubling one. Democrats see Lindell’s rise as making their path to holding the governorship easier, but many are unsettled that a prominent 2020 election denier remains a viable statewide candidate five years after the fact [1].
• Election conspiracy theories keep getting mainstreamed. Klobuchar allies argue that a major-party endorsement for a candidate who has spent years denying a legitimate election result normalizes the claims regardless of who ultimately wins the primary [1].
• The real fight gets overshadowed. Democrats worry that media focus on Republican infighting distracts from substantive debate over the state’s actual challenges heading into the general election [2].

Sources & Citations:

[1] NPR: Mike Lindell touts Trump ties in race for governor of Minnesota, where Trump has lost
[2] MPR News: President Trump backs Mike Lindell in Minnesota governor’s race ahead of Aug. 11 primary