(Headline USA) Mike Lindell, the fervent supporter of President Donald Trump known to TV viewers as the “MyPillow Guy,” officially entered the race for Minnesota governor Thursday in hopes of winning the Republican nomination to challenge Democratic Gov. Tim Walz in 2026.Lindell made the announcement at a news conference at his MyPillow factory in the Minneapolis suburb of Shakopee that he streamed live on his Lindell TV conservative news platform. He said his political opponents had tried to shut him and his company down because of his support for Trump’s claim that the 2020 election was stolen from him.
“Well, it didn’t work. I’m still standing. MyPillow is still standing,” Lindell said. “And now I want you to know that I will stand for you as governor of the state of Minnesota.”
He went straight from his announcement into a live interview with another Trump ally, conservative strategist Steve Bannon, on his “War Room” podcast.
The energetic Lindell then took the interview with Bannon outside, where his new red-white-and-blue bus was running. He said he intends to take his campaign to every town in Minnesota.
Afterward, Lindell told reporters that he told Trump back in August he was considering running for governor. But he declined to predict whether he will get the president’s endorsement, which could carry a lot of weight with the grassroots Republicans who will attend the state party’s convention next year. He also acknowledged that he gets advice from Trump’s former personal lawyer and former New York mayor Rudy Giuliani, who has a show on Lindell TV.
Lindell, 64, founded his pillow company in Minnesota in 2009 and became its public face through infomercials that became ubiquitous on late-night television. But he and his company faced a string of legal and financial setbacks after he became a leading amplifier of Trump’s claims that he really won the 2020 election. He said he has overcome them.
“Not only have I built businesses, you look at problem solution,” Lindell said in an interview with The Associated Press ahead of his announcement, in his trademark rapid-fire style. “I was able to make it through the biggest attack on a company, and a person, probably other than Donald Trump, in the history of our media … lawfare and everything.”
Lindell said he has a record of solving problems and personal experiences that will help businesses and fight addiction and homelessness as well as fraud in government programs. The fraud issue has particularly dogged Walz, the 2024 Democratic Party vice presidential candidate, who announced in September that he’s seeking a third term.
While no Republican has won statewide office in Minnesota since 2006, the state’s voters have a history of making unconventional choices. They shocked the world by electing former professional wrestler Jesse Ventura as governor in 1998. And they picked a veteran TV pitchman in 1978 when they elected home improvement company owner Rudy Boschwitz as a U.S. senator.
Lindell told the AP his crusade against electronic voting machines will just be part of his platform. While Minnesota uses paper ballots, it also uses electronic tabulators to count them. Lindell wants them hand-counted, even though many election officials say machine counting is more accurate.
Some Republicans in the race include Minnesota House Speaker Lisa Demuth, of Cold Spring; Dr. Scott Jensen, a former state senator from Chaska who was the party’s 2022 candidate; state Rep. Kristin Robbins, of Maple Grove; defense lawyer and former federal prosecutor Chris Madel; and former executive Kendall Qualls.
“These guys haven’t lived what I live,” Lindell said.
Adapted from reporting by the Associated Press.
Read Full Article: https://headlineusa.com/mypillow-founder-and-trump-supporter-mike-lindell-says-hes-running-for-minnesota-governor-in-2026/
