House Speaker Lisa Demuth announced Tuesday that she will run in the August Republican primary for governor of Minnesota. Demuth’s decision sets up a primary battle featuring MyPillow founder Mike Lindell and Republican-endorsed candidate Kendall Qualls.
Demuth made the announcement alongside Ryan Wilson, her lieutenant governor running mate, supporters, and GOP members of the Minnesota House of Representatives. Demuth had previously pledged to abide by the Republican endorsement for governor.
“In light of the voting anomalies announced at the state convention this weekend, and the Republican Party of Minnesota’s unprecedented action of releasing candidates from their pledge to abide, I will continue my campaign so that every Minnesota Republican has a say in their nominee,” Demuth said in a statement.
Last weekend, Demuth lost the Republican endorsement for governor to Qualls. However, that endorsement battle was beset by a voting irregularity which impacted the electronic clickers used by voting delegates.
While the issue was apparently resolved after the fifth and sixth ballot were impacted, Demuth criticized the voting irregularity at the convention, telling gathered delegates that she questioned the “entire voting for the entire day.”
The convention could have elected to use paper ballots, or decide on no endorsement, but instead the convention proceeded with the clickers. Qualls was endorsed on the 10th ballot.
Following the convention, Minnesota GOP Chairman Alex Plechash released a statement which said the party remains confident in the results of the endorsing convention and Qualls has the full backing of the state party.
However, in the same statement, Plechash took the bizarre step of saying Republican candidates for governor should not be treated as bound by their past pledge to abide by the endorsement. Plechash cited the voting irregularity as his rationale.
That statement, which effectively invited Republicans to challenge Qualls, cleared the way for Demuth to jump back into the race.
In her Tuesday press conference, Demuth cited Plechash’s statement as the “number one factor” in her decision to run in the primary. She said Plechash’s statement “felt like a full release that we could go forward.”
Alpha News contacted the Minnesota GOP to ask if Plechash’s statement was a betrayal of Qualls as the endorsed candidate. A spokesperson for the party responded, flatly, “No.”
In statement to Alpha News, Qualls said “As recently as this weekend, Lisa Demuth committed to abiding by the party endorsement and respecting the decision of thousands of Republican delegates. Now, she is putting vanity and political ambitions ahead of giving Republicans their best chance in decades to elect a conservative governor.”
Qualls continued, saying, “The sad part is that when we win in August, we will have wasted time and money fighting amongst ourselves to come to the same conclusion: victory for our campaign.”
With Demuth entering the August primary, the GOP primary for governor will now feature Demuth, Lindell, and Qualls. As such, Republicans are set up for what could be a brutal summer of political attacks and intraparty fighting.
Meanwhile, U.S. Sen. Amy Klobuchar received the DFL’s endorsement for governor on the first ballot at the DFL convention after a brief challenge from a left-wing activist. Klobuchar is expected to win the DFL primary for governor with minimal opposition.
Luke Sprinkel
Luke Sprinkel previously worked as a Legislative Assistant at the Minnesota House of Representatives. He grew up as a Missionary Kid (MK) living in England, Thailand, Tanzania, and the Middle East. Luke graduated from Regent University in 2018.
