Minnesota House Speaker Lisa Demuth has won the Republican gubernatorial primary and will move on to face the Democratic nominee in November to replace outgoing Gov. Tim Walz.
The victory amounts to a significant show of strength for Demuth, who stayed in the race after losing the Republican Party endorsement to Kendall Qualls at the state convention. Qualls secured the endorsement after 10 ballots, but Demuth argued that her legislative experience and record of leading House Republicans made her the party’s strongest candidate for November.
Additionally, Demuth defeated MyPillow founder and CEO Mike Lindell, who had President Donald Trump’s endorsement and has national name recognition.
No Republican has won a statewide election in the state since 2006, when Gov. Tim Pawlenty narrowly won reelection by less than a percentage point. Since then, Republicans have lost 28 consecutive statewide contests through the 2024 election, an 18-year drought that became the longest for either major party in Minnesota history.
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The race was dramatically reshaped in January when Walz abandoned his campaign for a third term, saying he wanted to spend his final year in office focused on combating fraud in state programs rather than defending his political future.
Walz had launched his reelection campaign only months earlier, but mounting scrutiny of fraud involving government-funded programs had become a major political liability and a central line of attack from Republicans.
Walz’s withdrawal marked an abrupt turn for a politician who had vaulted onto the national stage less than two years earlier as Kamala Harris’ 2024 vice presidential running mate.
As governor, Walz had signed a sweeping set of Democratic priorities after his party took full control of state government, including expanded abortion protections, free school meals, legalized recreational marijuana and paid family and medical leave. But his administration also faced sustained criticism over its handling of fraud in state programs that prosecutors say could total over $9 billion.
Walz’s departure opened the governor’s race and quickly turned attention to Klobuchar as a potential successor.
Klobuchar ultimately entered the contest, transforming what had been shaping up as a referendum on Walz’s eight years in office into a race in which Republicans would instead have to take on one of Minnesota’s most established statewide politicians.
