Lindell refuses to concede as Demuth leads Minnesota GOP governor primary

Lisa Demuth, the speaker of the Minnesota House, was declared the winner of the Republican gubernatorial primary after the Associated Press called the race late Tuesday night. With nearly all ballots counted, Demuth led Lindell by roughly 45,000 votes, holding 43.4% of the vote to Lindell's 32.5%. Kendall Qualls, the state party-backed candidate, remained in third place.

Despite the margin, Lindell said on his livestream that he would not concede, questioning the Associated Press's authority to declare a winner and insisting that “hundreds of thousands of votes remain uncounted.” He added, “I’m not going to give up this race until the votes are counted.” Lindell did not respond to a request for comment on any further actions he might take.

Lindell, who has promoted claims that the 2020 presidential election was fraudulent, recently settled a $1.3 billion defamation lawsuit brought by voting-technology company Liberty Vote. His campaign also faced scrutiny over his voter-registration status, as he was still registered in Texas at the time of the election, though Minnesota’s same-day registration rules allowed him to appear on the ballot.

President Donald Trump publicly urged Minnesota Republicans to support Lindell, praising his stance on “free and fair” elections. Demuth, who would become the first woman to win the Republican gubernatorial nomination in Minnesota, said the victory was a milestone but noted that her campaign’s work was “not done yet.” She will face Democratic Senator Amy Klobuchar in the November general election for the governorship.