Lisa Demuth beats Mike Lindell in Minnesota GOP governor primary
What’s next: Demuth advances to face Amy Klobuchar in November for the open seat Tim Walz left behind.
Minnesota House Speaker Lisa Demuth won the Republican primary for governor, defeating MyPillow founder Mike Lindell and businessman Kendall Qualls in the race to succeed Gov. Tim Walz. Demuth, 59, moved past a Trump-backed rival whose candidacy drew intense attention and skepticism from some Republicans over his electability, residency and business record. She heads into the general election against Democratic Sen. Amy Klobuchar, who won her party’s primary decisively. Demuth has pitched herself as a pragmatic conservative who can work across the aisle while also pressing fights over state budget priorities and fraud in government programs. Republicans have not won a Minnesota governor’s race in more than two decades.