Minnesota Supreme Court Rejects Lindell's Recount Bid in Gubernatorial Primary
The Minnesota Supreme Court has rejected MyPillow founder Mike Lindell's request for a recount in the state's GOP gubernatorial primary. The decision, issued on August 30, 2026, confirms an 11-point loss to Lisa Demuth.
Chief Justice Natalie E. Hudson authored the court's six-page opinion, stating that Lindell's claims "fail on the merits." The court found that the state-approved recount plan complied with Minnesota law.
Lindell had initially agreed to fund a full hand recount at an estimated cost of $825,000 but withheld payment after learning the recount would not include a separate tally for each candidate. The plan instead categorized votes into three groups: Lindell, Demuth, and others.
The certified election results showed Demuth received 179,683 votes, compared to Lindell's 134,282, resulting in a margin of nearly 45,000 votes.
Following the ruling, Lindell announced plans to appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court and intends to seek election data from all 87 Minnesota counties for independent analysis.