Mike Lindell, the CEO of MyPillow, received President Donald Trump’s endorsement in Minnesota’s governor’s race on Wednesday ahead of the August primary election.
Lindell has been a staunch supporter of Trump and a vocal proponent of claims of fraud during the 2020 presidential election. He is running in a competitive primary to win the Republican nomination for Minnesota’s governor. Whoever wins is likely to face Senator Amy Klobuchar, the front-runner in the Democratic primary, in November.
The Minnesota governor race was upended earlier this year when Governor Tim Walz, a Democrat, backed out of seeking a third term amid criticism of his handling of a fraud scandal and as the state became the center of the Trump administration’s immigration enforcement. Two American citizens were fatally shot by immigration officers in the Minneapolis area earlier this year, bringing the issue of immigration to the forefront of the election.
Politics
Trump endorsed Lindell in a post on Truth Social Wednesday morning, praising him as “one of America’s greatest and most hard working Patriots.”
“Early Primary Voting has begun and, if given the chance, Mike will be SPECTACULAR!!! He truly loves Minnesota, as do I, and wants to bring it back from oblivion and embarrassment. He can do it! Nobody has sacrificed more than Mike Lindell in fighting for our country, especially when it comes to Election Integrity. He truly deserves everything he gets,” the president wrote.
Newsweek reached out to the Lindell campaign via email for comment.
Larry Jacobs, a political scientist at the University of Minnesota, told Newsweek the endorsement could be a problem for Republicans hoping to flip the governor seat.
“In the Minnesota gubernatorial race, Trump is backing his loyal foot soldier in his efforts to discredit the 2020 presidential election who is the most unpopular Republican candidate among the critical group of independents,” he said. “Trump’s intervention is particularly damaging to Minnesota Republicans who have not won a gubernatorial race for 20 years and face the formidable likely Democratic candidate Senator Amy Klobuchar.”
Trump took to Truth Social later Wednesday to attack Klobuchar.
“I have gotten to know Klobuchar over the years, and find her to be equally as incompetent as Walz, and probably equally as corrupt in that, as a high Government Official from Minnesota, she knew everything that was going on,” he wrote.
Mike Lindell Faces Competitive Republican Primary in Minnesota
Several candidates are running in the Minnesota governor race on the Republican side, the most notable being Minnesota House Speaker Lisa Demuth and businessman Kendall Qualls. Polls have shown a competitive race in the Republican primary.
A Minnesota Private Business Council survey, which was conducted among 1,601 likely voters from June 23-25, 2026, showed Demuth with 34 percent support, Qualls with 28 percent and Lindell with 24 percent.
An additional 15 percent were still undecided and could shape the eventual outcome of the race, given the tight margins in this poll. It was first reported by Alpha News, a right-leaning news outlet based in Minnesota. It’s the most recent independent poll of the race.
A SurveyUSA poll, sponsored by KSTP-TV, showed Lindell leading with 27 percent support, compared to Demuth’s 22 percent and Qualls’ 17 percent. Twenty-four percent of Republicans were still undecided, the poll found. It surveyed 450 Republicans from June 11-16, 2026 and had a margin of error of plus or minus 5.4 percentage points.
A more recent survey from Big Data Poll, a Lindell internal, showed him with 27 percent support, while support for Demuth stood at 21 percent and for Qualls at 10 percent. It surveyed 1,214 likely voters from June 26-29, 2026.
Demuth told Newsweek on Wednesday she is “running to unite all corners of the party and deliver a victory in November up and down the ballot, and to save Minnesota from the radical and extreme Democrat agenda.”
Qualls responded to the endorsement in a statement to Newsweek, writing that Trump is “the President the country needed over the past decade and I’ve been a proud supporter of his since day one.”
“I’ll continue to support him and his America First policies when I am governor. This race won’t be won by national endorsements though; it will be decided by Minnesota Republicans – the same Republicans who supported President Trump in all three of his campaigns – and who time and time again have lined up behind our campaign as the only candidate endorsed by the Minnesota Republican Party,” he wrote.
In a statement to Newsweek, Klobuchar said, “Mike Lindell is Donald Trump’s choice. I hope to be Minnesota’s.”
Can Mike Lindell Flip Minnesota for Republicans? What Polls Show
The latest polling for the general election suggests Lindell may start the race in a weaker position than Demuth or Qualls.
A Mason-Dixon Polling & Research Inc. poll found Demuth in the closest race against Klobuchar. In that matchup, 48 percent of respondents said they would back Klobuchar compared to 40 percent for Demuth.
Qualls trailed Klobuchar by 11 points with 37 percent compared to the Democratic senator’s 48 percent. Lindell, however, trailed by 17 points. He received 36 percent, while Klobuchar’s support rose to 53 percent.
It surveyed 800 likely voters from June 8-10, 2026, with a margin of error of plus or minus 3.5 percentage points. It was sponsored by the Minnesota Star Tribune, which reported its findings, KARE-TV and the University of Minnesota Hubbard School of Journalism and Mass Communication.
An Emerson College poll earlier this year had similar findings—Klobuchar led Lindell by 22 points with 53 percent compared to his 31 percent. She led Demuth by 13 points with 51 percent to the Republican’s 38 percent.
That poll surveyed 1,000 likely voters from February 6-8, 2026, with a margin of error of plus or minus 3 percentage points.
David Schultz, a professor of political science at Hamline University, told Newsweek he does not think it would be a surprise if Lindell wins the Republican nomination given Trump’s “stranglehold on the Republican Party in Minnesota.”
He would not make a strong candidate for Republicans, Schultz said.
“Amy Klobuchar is also one of the most popular politicians in Minnesota. She has won every statewide race comfortably, even though her last Senate race was somewhat closer than her previous victories. Current polling consistently shows her as a heavy favorite over Mike Lindell,” he said
Forecasters favor Democrats, with both Sabato’s Crystal Ball and Cook Political Report rating the race as safe or solid for Democrats.
Democrats’ chances of holding onto the seat stood at 94 percent on prediction markets Kalshi and Polymarket as of Wednesday morning.
Prediction markets allow traders to buy and sell contracts tied to political outcomes and current events, aggregating real‑money wagers into probability estimates. Prices fluctuate as traders react to polling, fundraising, candidate developments and broader political trends. They measure trader sentiment at a given moment but do not always accurately predict the future.
Who Is Mike Lindell? What to Know About Trump Ally Running for Minnesota Governor
Lindell, born in Mankato, Minnesota, founded MyPillow in 2009. He emerged as a vocal Trump supporter during the 2016 presidential election. Following the 2020 presidential election, he became a leading voice in promoting unproven claims that the election was stolen.
He has faced legal challenges over his 2020 election claims. In June, the voting technology company formerly known as Dominion Voting Systems moved to dismiss its $1.3 billion defamation lawsuit. The dismissal, filed in June 2026, ends that specific lawsuit “with prejudice,” meaning it cannot be refiled.
Lindell previously told Newsweek the outcome was “a blessing.”
He continues to face ongoing legal exposure—including an unresolved case brought by Smartmatic. He said the backlash, which also includes MyPillow being dropped by major retailers, impacted him financially.
Immigration Debate Upended Minnesota Governor Race
The dynamics of the Minnesota governor race have shifted amid the immigration debate.
The race was jolted in early January over a scandal on the Feeding Our Future nonprofit, which was implicated in a $250 million COVID-era scheme involving fraudulent claims for child nutrition programs. The Justice Department’s probe, which began under the Biden administration, has led to dozens of indictments, including members of Minnesota’s Somali community. Estimates of the cost to taxpayers have ranged from $250 million to $1 billion.
Republicans accused Walz of inadequately responding to the scandal. They argued that his administration did not do enough to prevent the alleged fraud, but Walz’s office previously told Newsweek that he has “worked for years to crack down on fraud and asked the state Legislature for more authority to take aggressive action.”
Walz announced that he would not seek a third term in office. Democrats view Klobuchar, who is well-known and popular in Minnesota, as a strong candidate who can hold the seat without being tied to the scandal.
Democrats switching from Walz to Klobuchar “fundamentally” changed the race, according to Schultz.
“What I believed would have been a probable Walz defeat now becomes what appears to be a fairly probable Klobuchar victory,” he said.
The Trump administration focused on Minnesota in its immigration operations after the fraud criticism. It deployed thousands of Border Patrol agents to the state as part of a broader immigration crackdown, particularly targeting communities with large immigrant populations. Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey, a Democrat, said in a January CBS News interview that around 3,000 troops were deployed.
Two American citizens, Renee Nicole Good and Alex Pretti, were fatally shot by immigration officers during the increased operations. It has led to a huge wave of backlash toward the Trump administration in Minnesota. There were large protests over the shootings and ICE tactics.
Minnesota Is Republicans’ Elusive Target
Republicans have targeted Minnesota in recent elections but have fallen short, as it has retained its status as a light blue state.
It last voted for a Republican at the presidential level in 1972 but has still given Democrats narrow margins in the latest presidential races. Former Vice President Kamala Harris carried Minnesota by only about 4 points in 2024, a narrower performance than former President Joe Biden’s 7-point win in 2020.
In 2016, Minnesota backed former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton by fewer than 2 percentage points. Former President Barack Obama did better in the state—carrying it by nearly 8 points in 2012 and more than 10 points in 2008.
Minnesota last elected a Republican governor in 2006, when former Governor Tim Pawlenty won reelection over former Attorney General Mike Hatch by less than a single percentage point. It last elected a Republican senator—Norm Coleman—in 2002.
How Popular Is Donald Trump in Minnesota?
Trump’s approval rating is going to be a major factor in the 2026 midterm elections, which are generally viewed as a referendum on the sitting president. Historically, the party in the White House loses seats in the midterms, so as Trump’s approval rating slips nationally, Democrats are more optimistic about their chances of having a 2018-style “blue wave.”
In Civiqs’ Trump approval-tracking poll, Trump’s approval rating stood at 32 percent, while his disapproval rating was 62 percent in Minnesota. It has tracked 115,982 responses nationwide since Trump’s return to office.
The Emerson College poll found that 56 percent of Minnesotans disapprove of Trump, while 41 percent approve.
Contact Newsweek editors on this story: Jason Lemon, Cristina Diciu, and Sam Wilson.
