Lindell Refuses to Concede After Minnesota Primary Loss

Mike Lindell came a distant second in the GOP primary for Minnesota governor but as with the 2020 presidential election, he's having trouble accepting the result. The MyPillow founder and ally of President Trump lost to Minnesota House Speaker Lisa Demuth by about 11 points but he refused to concede early Wednesday, claiming there were "deviations" and "anomalies" in the vote totals, the New York Times reports. He told a host on his LindellTV network that he won't concede, dismissing a question about the Associated Press calling the race with, "Why would I listen to the AP?"

Lindell, who left his company's top job to run, has been a prominent backer of Trump's baseless claims of a stolen 2020 election; Trump urged Minnesota Republicans on Truth Social to deliver him a "BIG WIN" on Tuesday. Instead, Demuth emerged as the GOP nominee and will face Democratic Sen. Amy Klobuchar this fall in the race to replace retiring Gov. Tim Walz. A Lindell rep told the Minnesota Star Tribune Wednesday that he was unavailable to comment on possible next steps. Minnesota allows state-paid recounts when the margin of victory is below 0.25%. In larger losses, like Lindell's, candidates can request recounts, but they have to pay the bill themselves.

Demuth called her victory a "major milestone" and said Minnesotans "are ready for real change," while Democratic Rep. Ted Lieu mocked Lindell's stance in a post on X, the Hill reports. "Many people say Venezuela rigged the election against Mike Lindell because they don't like his pillows," Lieu wrote. "Never seen anything like it."