OAN Staff Katherine Mosack
9:40 AM – Wednesday, August 12, 2026
In Minnesota’s gubernatorial primary election, Senator Amy Klobuchar secured the Democrat nomination, while state House Speaker Lisa Demuth became the GOP nominee, defeating MyPillow founder Mike Lindell, President Donald Trump’s pick.
With 99% of votes counted on Tuesday, Klobuchar (D-Minn.) won 614,920 votes, or 89.7% of the Democrat vote, in a landslide election, according to the Associated Press.
Her Democrat challengers each won less than 10% of the vote. This included former state Senate staffer and retail employee Kobey J. Layne; business owner Mohammad Wazwaz; Po Vang; artist and writer Ole Savior; public safety consultant Thomas Evenstad; and pastor Bill E. Gates Jr., who has no relation to Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates.
Meanwhile, Demuth (R-Minn.) won 179,656 votes, or 43.4% of the Republican vote, beating Mike Lindell’s 134,272 votes, or 32.5% of the vote, and healthcare technology executive Kendall Qualls’ 21.4%.
Their Republican opponents received less than 2% of the vote each. This included pastor John Krhin; businessman and Army veteran Ross Nova; construction worker Raul J. Estrada; and Loner Blue, also known as Scott Glenn Kendall.
Minnesota Governor Tim Walz (D-Minn.), who also ran as former Vice President Kamala Harris’s pick for vice president in 2024, decided not to run for reelection earlier this year after massive fraud operations were uncovered in his state under his watch.
Klobuchar was quick to throw her hat into the ring in the wake of Walz’s announcement in January, and has been regarded as the ideological heir of the incumbent Democrat governor.
“Amy Klobuchar is Tim Walz 2.0,” former GOP candidate Kendall Qualls said on X at the time, “a career politician who stood silently as the largest case of fraud in American history unfolded, watched Minneapolis burn to the ground and become infested with crime, and helped facilitate the decline of our great state during her two decades in the U.S. Senate.”
After her win on Tuesday, Klobuchar promised “results” to her constituents.
“Minnesotans expect leaders who deliver results, not excuses. That’s what I’ve done as your Senator, and that’s what I will do as your next Governor,” she posted to X Tuesday night.
Despite Trump’s endorsement of Lindell, whom he called the “Pillow Man,” Demuth will move on to face Klobuchar in November.
Trump called for Minnesotans to turn out for Lindell in several Truth Social posts, writing on election day that Lindell “deserves a BIG WIN IN MINNESOTA.”
“Nobody has worked harder, and given up so much, in fighting for free and fair Elections,” declared the president.
Lindell even stepped down from his role as the CEO of MyPillow to direct his attention to his political campaign.
Demuth, meanwhile, vowed a “fresh start” for the state and to “reverse course and renew the promise of Minnesota” after years of Democrat leadership.
“It’s an absolute honor to be the Republican candidate for governor of Minnesota. Today was a major milestone in this campaign, but we’re not done yet,” she wrote on X on Tuesday night. “Tonight, Minnesotans made it clear they are ready for real change – at the top. It’s time to end the fraud, restore common sense to our state government and return Minnesota to a place that works for families, seniors, businesses and our next generation.”
“The Walz/Klobuchar status quo simply isn’t working. The Minnesota we all know and love is slipping away,” she added in a written statement. “When Walz presides over a multi-billion-dollar fraud scandal that the New York Times calls ‘staggering’ in ‘scale and brazenness’ – it’s time for a change. When the ‘Quality Learing Center’ becomes a national punchline – it’s time for a change. When Minnesota kids falls behind Mississippi kids in educational outcomes – it’s time for a change. When Walz and the Democrats squander an $18 billion surplus and raise taxes by $10 billion – it’s time for a change.”
“When Tim Walz – a man Amy Klobuchar calls a ‘great governor’ and ‘incredible’ – pardons a convicted child rapist – it’s time for a change,” the nominee continued. “We can’t afford more of the same. And that’s exactly what Amy Klobuchar would be as governor. Amy Klobuchar is a career politician and 20-year Washington D.C. insider. She’s been running for office for more than 30 years. She simply cannot deliver the kind of change Minnesotans want.”
Demuth’s campaign biography hails her as the first Black lawmaker and Republican woman to serve as Minnesota’s speaker of the House, where she “delivered on conservative priorities,” including reducing state spending and protecting taxpayers. Her website says she “continues to stand for faith, family, freedom, and the hardworking people of Minnesota.”
When asked by a reporter on his network, LindellTV, during a live watch party, if he would concede the race if the Associated Press called it for his opponent, he pointed out that there were still hundreds of thousands of votes left to be counted, remarking, “Why would I listen to the AP?”
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