Mike Lindell, the quixotic founder of bedding company MyPillow who rose to prominence as a staunch ally of President Donald Trump after vigorously contesting the results of the 2020 presidential election, is now refusing to concede his own race for Minnesota governor.
Lindell questioned multiple projections that forecast Minnesota House Speaker Lisa Demuth advancing to November’s general election. She led Lindell by about 11 percentage points as of Wednesday morning with 99% of votes counted, according to The Associated Press. Demuth accepted her nomination late Tuesday.
As vote-counting showed Demuth’s lead widening throughout Tuesday evening, Lindell told reporters there appeared to be last-minute “mathematical deviations” in the results. He vowed to get answers and said he refused to recognize any calls made by the AP.
“What is the AP to voters? Why would I listen to the AP?” Lindell replied when asked whether he would concede the race after the wire service made its projection, a common practice for candidates in both parties.
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“I’m not going to give up this race until the votes are counted,” said Lindell, whose television network was displaying AP-tabulated results on its website. “That’s nonsense.”
The bedding magnate did not respond to a request for comment from NOTUS on Wednesday morning.
Demuth will face Democratic Sen. Amy Klobuchar in the November general election.
Lindell’s remarks called back to his yearslong obsession with proving that Trump won the 2020 election, which led to a series of embarrassing missteps that propelled the former crack addict and author to the national spotlight. Lindell’s bushy mustache and throaty upper Midwestern drawl made him a subject of countless late-night parodies and internet memes, though Trump never stopped supporting Lindell’s efforts.
The president endorsed Lindell in July, stating, “Nobody has sacrificed more than Mike Lindell in fighting for our country, especially when it comes to Election Integrity.”
Lindell’s refusal to accept Tuesday’s results quickly drew mockery online.
“Many people say Venezuela rigged the election against Mike Lindell because they don’t like his pillows,” Rep. Ted Lieu (D-California) joked on X. “Never seen anything like it.”
Lindell’s circulation of widely debunked claims of voter fraud have resulted in numerous lawsuits and social media bans — issues that loomed over his gubernatorial campaign.
This summer, he confidentially settled a defamation suit from Dominion Voting Systems, now known as Liberty Vote. In a separate case last year, a federal appeals court ruled Lindell did not have to pay a $5 million reward to the winner of a contest he spearheaded, asking challengers to debunk claims of Chinese interference in the 2020 election — a mandate they promptly fulfilled.
Lindell’s campaign for governor was also marred by several new scandals.
He faced scrutiny over whether he met the residency requirements to run for Minnesota governor after reports emerged that he was registered to vote in Texas. He was also sued for allegedly violating campaign finance rules by distributing promotional pillows at a Fourth of July parade. He said the allegations were a “set-up hit job.”
Lindell stepped down from MyPillow this month to focus on the governor’s race.
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