MyPillow founder and Trump ally Mike Lindell will run for governor of Minnesota in 2026

SHAKOPEE, Minn. (AP) — Mike Lindell, an ardent supporter of President Donald Trump known to TV viewers as “MyPillow Guy,” officially entered the race for Minnesota governor on Thursday with hopes of winning the Republican nomination to challenge Democratic Gov. Tim Walz in 2026.

Lindell made the announcement at a press conference at his MyPillow factory in the Minneapolis suburb of Shakopee that was broadcast live on his conservative news platform Lindell TV. He said his political opponents tried to shut him down and his company because of his support for Trump’s claim that the 2020 election was stolen from him.

Read more: Stores drop MyPillow after CEO pushes election conspiracies

“Well, it didn’t work out. I’m still standing. My pillow’s still up,” Lindell said. “Now I want you to know that I will stand with you as governor of the state of Minnesota.”

Machines knocked and hissed loudly in the background as workers packed MyPillows. He went straight from his announcement to a live interview with another Trump ally, conservative strategist Steve Bannon, on his “War Room” podcast.

The energetic Lindell then interviewed Bannon outside, where his new red, white and blue bus was running. He said he intends to take his campaign to every city in Minnesota.

Lindell then told reporters that he told Trump last August that he was considering a run for governor. But he declined to predict whether he would receive the president’s endorsement, which could carry significant weight among grassroots Republicans who will attend the party’s state convention next year. He also admitted to receiving advice from Trump’s former personal lawyer and former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani, who hosts a show on Lindell TV.

TV guy and election denier

Lindell, 64, founded his pillow company in Minnesota in 2009 and became its public face through commercials that have become ubiquitous on late-night television. But he and his company faced a series of legal and financial setbacks after he became a leading amplifier of Trump’s false claims that he really won the 2020 election. He said he overcame them.

“I didn’t just look at building a business, I looked at solving problems,” Lindell said in an interview with The Associated Press before his announcement, in his trademark rapid-fire style. “You made it through the biggest attack on a company and a person, other than perhaps Donald Trump, in the history of our media… the legal war and all.”

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 case has particularly dogged Walz, the Democratic Party’s 2024 vice presidential nominee, who announced in September that he was seeking a third term.

Democrats were quick to criticize Lindell’s entry into the race

“Lendell has made a name for himself kissing Donald Trump and pushing far-right conspiracy theories, especially regarding the results of the 2020 presidential election — not to mention selling substandard pillows,” Walz’s campaign said in a statement. “He is a snake oil salesman involved in multiple legal battles and wants to bring Trump extremism to Minnesota.”

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While no Republican has won statewide office in Minnesota since 2006, voters in the state have a history of making unconventional choices. They shocked the world by electing former professional wrestler Jesse Ventura as governor in 1998. And they chose a veteran TV player in 1978 when they elected home improvement company owner Rudy Boschwitz to the U.S. Senate.

Lindell has spoken frequently about how he overcame cocaine addiction through religious conversion in 2009 while the MyPillow program was ongoing. His life took another turn in 2016 when he met the future president during Trump’s first campaign. He served as introductory speaker at dozens of Trump rallies and co-chaired Trump’s campaign in Minnesota.

His platform, Lindell TV, was in the news in November when it became one of several conservative outlets to become certified for Pentagon coverage after approving a new restrictive press policy rejected by nearly all legacy media organizations.

Lindell has weathered a series of storms

Lindell’s outspoken support of Trump’s election denials sparked a backlash as major retailers discontinued MyPillow products. By his own admission, revenues declined and credit lines dried up, costing him millions. Several sellers have sued MyPillow over billing disputes. Fox News stopped showing his commercials. His lawyers resigned.

Lindell has been sued twice for defamation over his claims that voting machines were tampered with to deny Trump a victory.

Read more: MyPillow CEO Mike Lindell says FBI agents seized his phone

A federal judge in Minnesota ruled last September that Lindell defamed Smartmatic by making 51 false statements. But the judge deferred the question of whether Lindell had acted with the “actual malice” that Smartmatic must prove it must have accumulated. Smartmatic says it is seeking “nine-figure damages.”

A Colorado jury in June found Lindell defamed a former Dominion Voting Systems executive by calling him a traitor, and awarded him $2.3 million in damages.

But Lindell scored a victory in July when a federal appeals court overturned a judge’s decision that affirmed a $5 million arbitration award to a software engineer who objected to data that Lindell claimed proved Chinese interference in the 2020 election. The engineer had accepted Lindell’s “Prove Mike Wrong Challenge” as part of his 2021 “webinar” in South Dakota, where he promised to expose election fraud.

Next campaign

Lindell told the AP that his campaign against electronic voting machines will be just part of his platform. While Minnesota uses paper ballots, it also uses electronic tabulators to count them. Lindell wants them to be counted by hand, although many election officials say automated counts are more accurate.

Republicans in the race include Minnesota House Speaker Lisa Demuth, of Cold Spring; Dr. Scott Jensen, a former Chaska state senator who was the party’s 2022 nominee; State Rep. Christine Robins, of Maple Grove; Defense attorney and former federal prosecutor Chris Madel; and former CEO Kendall Qualls.

“These people didn’t live what I lived,” Lindell said.

Lindell will not commit to endorsing the Minnesota Republican Party and forego the primary if he loses, expressing confidence in his victory. He also said that he would rely on his supporters to fund his campaign because his financial resources had been depleted. “I don’t have the money,” he admitted.

But since news broke last week that he had filed paperwork to run, he added, “I’ve had thousands and thousands of people text and call from all over the country saying… Hey, I’ll donate.”