MyPillow CEO Mike Lindell announces run for Minnesota governor

MyPillow CEO Mike Lindell announces run for Minnesota governor

OLIVIA RUBIN and OREN OPPENHEIM

Thu, December 11, 2025 at 10:09 PM UTC

3 min read

MyPillow CEO Mike Lindell announces run for Minnesota governor

Longtime Trump loyalist and CEO of MyPillow, Mike Lindell, announced on Thursday that he is running for governor of Minnesota.

"I want you to know that I will stand for you as the next governor of the state of Minnesota," he said from the floor of his MyPillow factory.

“I will stand for you against the rampant fraud under Governor Walz; I will stand with you against crime that threatens the safety of you and your family... I’ll stand for you against unnecessary regulation that strangles the entrepreneurial spirit," Lindell continued.

Steve Karnowski/AP - PHOTO: MyPillow CEO and founder Mike Lindell speaks to reporters at his MyPillow factory in the Minneapolis suburb of Shakopee, Minn., on Dec, 11, 2025, as he launches his campaign for the Republican nomination to challenge Gov. Tim Walz in 2026.

Lindell -- who has been one of the leading proponents of unfounded claims that voting machines created fraud in the 2020 election -- previously registered a candidate campaign committee with the Minnesota Campaign Finance Board, according to a filing with the board.

Incumbent Democratic Gov. Tim Walz has already announced he is running for reelection for a third term, although he has faced recent scrutiny over alleged state financial mismanagement and returning to a challenging political situation in his own state after being a running mate on a losing presidential ticket.

During a press conference last week, Walz addressed alleged fraud in Minnesota, saying it is being looked into and audited.

A handful of Republican candidates have also announced bids for governor.

Democrats are expressing optimism that Lindell’s potential entry into the race bodes well for Walz, saying that Lindell would be too extreme for the state.

"This crowded race to the right is a nightmare scenario for Minnesota Republicans, and whichever of these flawed candidates makes it through the primary will be hard-pressed to compare their radical agenda to Gov. Walz’s record of delivering for Minnesota families," Democratic Governors Association spokesperson Izzi Levy said in a statement Thursday.

The Minnesota Democratic-Farmer-Labor Party previously wrote on X that Lindell "represents exactly what today’s Republican Party has become: conspiratorial, extremist, and weird. We must defeat him in November.”

The Minnesota Star Tribune was first to report on the filing.

Lindell is still fighting a defamation lawsuit from voting machine company Dominion, which filed a $1.3 billion defamation lawsuit against him in 2021, alleging he helped push false theories about the voting company rigging the 2020 election, even though the accusations were widely shown to be unfounded.

A status report last month from Dominion -- now named "Liberty Vote" after a new acquisition -- said the parties have completed discovery and that "this case is ready to be set for trial."

Lindell denied the allegation that he had pushed election fraud claims to benefit his business.

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