Who Is Lisa Demuth? Trump-Backed Mike Lindell Loses Minnesota Governor Primary to GOP House Speaker

Minnesota House Speaker Lisa Demuth won the Republican primary for governor Tuesday, defeating former MyPillow CEO Mike Lindell, who had President Donald Trump’s endorsement, and party-backed candidate Kendall Qualls. The Associated Press called the race Tuesday night, with Demuth taking roughly 45% of the vote to Lindell’s 31%, according to unofficial results.

The win makes Demuth the first Black major-party nominee for governor in Minnesota history and the first Republican woman to win her party’s nomination for the office. She now advances to a November general election against Democratic U.S. Sen. Amy Klobuchar, who won her own primary Tuesday and is also seeking to become Minnesota’s first woman governor. Both women are vying for the seat left open by Gov. Tim Walz, who announced he would not seek a third term.

Who Is Lisa Demuth?

Demuth, 59, is a fourth-term state representative from Cold Spring who has served as speaker of the Minnesota House since 2024, leading a chamber split almost evenly between Republicans and Democrats. Before entering politics, she worked in local government and nonprofit management in central Minnesota. She announced her run for governor in a video message, criticizing Walz’s handling of the state budget, tax increases and government fraud.

On the campaign trail, Demuth focused on cutting taxes, cracking down on government fraud and addressing crime, including calls for stiffer sentences for repeat offenders. She selected attorney Ryan Wilson as her running mate. Demuth has framed herself as a Republican capable of working across the aisle, pointing to her experience leading a closely divided House, and has argued she is best positioned to end more than two decades without a Republican governor in Minnesota; the state last elected one in 2006.

Path to the State House

Demuth was born Feb. 10, 1967, in Paynesville, Minnesota, and graduated from Bloomington Kennedy High School in 1985. She later settled in Cold Spring, about 20 miles southwest of St. Cloud, where she ran a small business before entering politics. Her political career began locally: she won a seat on the Rockville-Cold Spring-Richmond school board, known as ROCORI, in 2007 and served there until 2018.

She was first elected to the Minnesota House in 2018 to represent District 13A, which includes Cold Spring and St. Joseph in Stearns County. Demuth rose through House Republican leadership over the next several years, serving as assistant minority leader from 2021 to 2023 before becoming House Republican leader in 2023, as Democrats held full control of the governor’s office and both legislative chambers.

Ahead of the 2024 election, Demuth helped raise money and recruit candidates for a Republican push to break the Democratic trifecta. The party flipped three swing districts that November, leaving the Minnesota House tied 67-67 between the parties. The tie blocked either side from passing major legislation on its own but positioned Demuth as the chamber’s most visible Republican, and lawmakers elected her speaker on Feb. 6, 2025, in a party-line vote over Democratic Rep. Melissa Hortman, making her the first Black person and first Republican woman to hold the position.

Personal Background

Demuth and her husband, Nick, have four children and four grandchildren, according to Vote Smart. All four of their children were on the ROCORI High School campus in Cold Spring in 2003 when a gunman killed two students in a shooting there, an experience Demuth has said shaped her views on school safety. She has identified her religious affiliation as Assemblies of God.

Before her time in elected office, Demuth held early jobs that she has said influenced her approach to public service, including work as a car hop at a Paynesville drive-in restaurant.

Why Lindell Lost

Lindell, the MyPillow founder, entered the race with Trump’s endorsement last month but never secured the state party’s formal backing, which went to Qualls at a Minnesota GOP convention in Duluth that took 10 ballots to resolve. Lindell stepped down as MyPillow’s CEO earlier this month to focus on the campaign and had led in limited public polling heading into primary day.

His candidacy drew scrutiny in the campaign’s final weeks, including questions about his residency raised by the state Republican Party chairman and longstanding criticism tied to his promotion of false claims about the 2020 presidential election. Some Republicans had expressed concern that Lindell’s close association with Trump, who lost Minnesota in all three of his presidential runs, would weaken the party’s chances in a general election.

Qualls, an Army veteran and former health care executive who held the state party’s formal endorsement, trailed both Demuth and Lindell in the vote count. Minnesota Republican officials said ahead of the primary that candidates were not required to abide by the convention endorsement, opening the door for Lindell and Demuth to compete despite Qualls’ formal backing.

What’s Next

Demuth heads into the general election facing a significant financial disadvantage against Klobuchar, a four-term senator whose campaign had raised more than $9 million since launching in January, compared with a fraction of that for Demuth’s campaign and allied outside groups. Minnesota has not elected a Republican governor since 2006, and Demuth will need to overcome that streak in a state Trump has lost in three consecutive presidential elections.

The general election is scheduled for Nov. 3.