MyPillow CEO Mike Lindell is refusing to concede Minnesota’s Republican gubernatorial primary to state Rep. Lisa Demuth, even as the Associated Press has projected Demuth as the winner, according to multiple reports.
Lindell, who was endorsed by President Donald Trump in the race, told a reporter on election night that he would not accept the outcome just because the AP had called it, saying he wanted to wait until all ballots were tabulated.
“I’m not going to give up this race until the votes are counted,” Lindell said, according to The Hill. “There’s 265,000 votes left to count. I’m down by 18,000 now. That’s nonsense.”
When asked directly if he would concede if the AP declared Demuth the winner, Lindell reportedly shot back, questioning why he should “listen to the AP.”
What the Numbers Show
With roughly 99 percent of precincts reporting, Demuth had secured 179,656 votes, or about 43.4 percent of the vote, while Lindell trailed with 134,272 votes, or about 32.5 percent. The AP called the race for Demuth at 11:26 p.m. Tuesday.
Lindell’s campaign quickly signaled it would not go quietly. Kirsten Swanson, an investigative reporter for KSTP-TV, wrote on X that “Lindell will not concede” and that he “claims there are anomalies in the numbers that his teams will be looking into overnight.”
Demuth Declares Victory
Demuth, a state representative and assistant minority leader in the Minnesota House, responded to the returns by declaring what she called a major milestone in her campaign.
“It’s an absolute honor to be the Republican candidate for governor of Minnesota,” Demuth wrote on X. “Today was a major milestone in this campaign, but we’re not done yet.”
Demuth’s victory sets up a general-election matchup against the Democratic-Farmer-Labor nominee, with Minnesota’s open governor’s seat up for grabs in November.
Lindell’s Amnesty Proposal Draws Scrutiny
During the campaign, Lindell drew attention — and criticism — for floating an amnesty proposal for undocumented immigrants in Minnesota. In an interview with the Washington Examiner, Lindell said that if elected governor he would grant illegal aliens a six-month amnesty and allow them to apply for a conditional work visa.
“I’m a person of second chances,” Lindell told the Examiner, adding that he was focused on those “if the only thing they ever did was cross the border and didn’t report back in because they were afraid of being re-deported.”
The proposal put Lindell at odds with some in his own party and became a flashpoint in the primary, even as he campaigned on Trump’s endorsement and a hard-line immigration message.
Critics Pile On
Lindell’s refusal to concede drew immediate pushback from both political opponents and commentators.
Gun control activist David Hogg took to X, writing, “Has he checked under his pillow for the missing votes?” — a sarcastic nod to Lindell’s MyPillow fortune.
Former Republican Rep. Adam Kinzinger offered a simpler jab: “Poor guy.”
Another user wrote, “He’s going to need a bigger pillow to cry into.”
Townhall columnist Dustin Grage chimed in with a screenshot of a Townhall article titled “Mike Lindell’s Amnesty Betrayal — Undermining America-First and Those Cleaning Up Biden’s Disaster,” writing, “I found the anomaly.”
What Happens Next
As of Wednesday morning, the Minnesota Secretary of State’s office had not reported any widespread election irregularities. The remaining uncounted ballots referenced by Lindell appear to be provisional ballots and other outstanding returns that election officials said could take days to fully process.
Still, Lindell gave no indication he was preparing to step aside, telling reporters that his team would keep pushing until every ballot was tabulated.
“I’m down by 18,000 now,” he said. “I’m not going to give up this race until the votes are counted.”
It remains unclear whether Lindell will pursue a recount or challenge the results through legal avenues. Minnesota has an automatic recount threshold for statewide primaries when the margin is within 0.5 percentage points, but the current gap between Demuth and Lindell far exceeds that.
For now, Demuth is moving forward as the presumed Republican nominee, while Lindell’s team says it is reviewing the numbers overnight — a familiar stance for a businessman who, in 2020, became one of the most vocal proponents of election fraud claims.
Source: www.breitbart.com — https://www.breitbart.com/politics/2026/08/12/mike-lindell-refuses-to-concede-election-loss-in-minnesota-gop-gubernatorial-primary-until-the-votes-are-counted/