Minnesota GOP picks Lisa Demuth over Trump-backed Mike Lindell for governor against Democrat Amy Klobuchar

Demuth, the state House speaker, defeated Trump-endorsed Lindell for the Republican nomination, NBC News projects, while Klobuchar romped in her primary.

Minnesota state House Speaker Lisa Demuth won the Republican primary for governor, NBC News projects, defeating Trump ally Mike Lindell and setting up a general election matchup against Democratic Sen. Amy Klobuchar.

Demuth’s victory was an upset over Lindell, the MyPillow founder and election conspiracy theorist. Lindell had been leading in limited public polling heading into Election Day, and President Donald Trump endorsed him.

But attacks on Lindell from fellow Republicans — including questions about his residency raised by the chairman of the Minnesota Republican Party — hampered his campaign in the final weeks before the primary, as members of the Minnesota GOP sought a nominee who could beat Klobuchar in the general election.

Mike Lindell at the Theodore Roosevelt Presidential Library in Medora, N.D., on July 1.Leigh Vogel / Getty ImagesLindell has faced several legal challenges since 2020, when he championed Trump’s debunked theories about the 2020 presidential election, which former President Joe Biden won.

At a Minnesota Farmfest forum this month, Klobuchar appeared alongside three GOP candidates for governor and accused each of them of being “a rubber stamp of Donald Trump.”