MINNEAPOLIS — Mike Lindell, the Trump-endorsed former MyPillow chief, refused to concede Minnesota’s Republican primary for governor on Wednesday after state House Speaker Lisa Demuth defeated him by roughly 11 percentage points, questioning the vote count and saying he wanted more time to review the results.
Demuth was projected to win the Aug. 11 primary, and results with nearly all votes counted showed her with about 43.5% of the vote to Lindell’s 32.5%, according to results cited by The Associated Press and The New York Times. The margin was more than 45,000 votes.
Lindell, speaking on his LindellTV streaming channel, rejected the Associated Press projection and questioned why he should accept a news organization’s call of the race. He said substantial numbers of ballots remained to be counted and said his campaign would examine the results before deciding what to do next.
“It just doesn't make sense, you guys. So we need a day. We're going to look into it,” Lindell said, according to People, adding that his campaign had several teams examining the results. He also said one person had reported seeing “a couple of anomalies.”
No evidence establishing widespread problems with the primary vote has been reported. Minnesota election officials have continued publishing election results through the state’s official results system, which provides statewide and precinct-level data for the governor’s race.
The loss was a setback for Lindell, who had entered the primary as a prominent candidate and received President Donald Trump’s endorsement in July. Trump again urged Minnesota Republicans to support Lindell on primary day.
Demuth entered the primary after declining to withdraw following the Republican Party’s May endorsement of businessman Kendall Qualls. She cited voting irregularities during the party convention, while the state party subsequently allowed candidates to continue into the primary.
Demuth will face Democratic U.S. Senator Amy Klobuchar in the Nov. 3 general election, according to election projections. The governor’s contest is for an open seat, with Democratic incumbent Tim Walz not seeking another term.
As of Wednesday, Lindell had not conceded the Republican nomination to Demuth, and no formal challenge to the primary result had been confirmed.
