Mike Lindell, the founder of MyPillow, announced on Wednesday that he is privately funding a hand recount and audit of Minnesota’s Republican gubernatorial primary. Lindell lost the election to Minnesota House Speaker Lisa Demuth (R) by approximately 11 percentage points. Despite the results, Lindell has refused to concede, citing alleged irregularities.
The decision follows a primary race where Lindell received an endorsement from former President Trump. According to Decision Desk HQ, Demuth secured the nomination and is scheduled to face Sen. Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.) in the general election. Lindell stated that he will not give up the race until all votes are counted, claiming there were 265,000 votes remaining at the time he trailed by 18,000.
Lindell's team reported several reasons for seeking the audit, including claims of vote totals moving backward during reporting and synchronized vote totals among the seven Republican candidates. He also alleged that some counties reported more votes than were cast. The Minnesota Secretary of State’s office declined to comment on the matter. Lindell noted that the process would involve designated observers for the hand-counting phase.
For Minnesota residents, the recount introduces a period of legal and procedural activity following the certification of primary results. If the audit proceeds as described, it will involve the deployment of private observers to monitor hand-counting, though the source does not report a specific dollar amount for the cost Lindell is assuming. The outcome will determine whether Lisa Demuth proceeds to the general election against Sen. Amy Klobuchar without further internal party challenges or if the certification is delayed by these claims of technical irregularities.
The move also intersects with ongoing litigation involving Lindell and electronic voting technology companies. Lindell stated on Wednesday that his legal team requested a new ruling in a defamation case brought by Smartmatic, a company he previously criticized regarding the 2020 election. A federal judge had ruled against Lindell in June 2025, finding he defamed the company. The current recount effort seeks to set a precedent for removing electronic machines from U.S. elections, an outcome that would fundamentally alter how millions of Americans cast and count ballots in future cycles.
What happens next: The general election to replace retiring Democratic Gov. Tim Walz is scheduled for this fall. While Lindell has filed requests regarding his ongoing defamation case, the specific start date for the private audit and hand recount in Minnesota was not reported.