Minnesota House Speaker Lisa Demuth announced Monday that former state auditor candidate Ryan Wilson will be her running mate in the 2026 gubernatorial race.
Demuth, a Republican from Cold Spring, announced her campaign to unseat Gov. Tim Walz last week.
“During Ryan’s campaign for state auditor in 2022, he sounded the alarm about fraud spiraling out of control in our state — fraud that thrived under Tim Walz’s lack of leadership in protecting Minnesotans’ hard-earned tax dollars,” Demuth said in a press release.
“Minnesota tax dollars should be used to help Minnesotans, not to enrich fraudsters. Ryan ran one of the most successful Republican campaigns for statewide office in years because his commonsense message resonated with voters across Minnesota.”
Wilson was the Republican nominee for state auditor in 2022 and came within 0.34% of defeating incumbent Democratic Julie Blaha. He most recently served as the president of Freedom Club and chairman of American First Policy Institute-Minnesota. Wilson endorsed President Donald Trump in 2024 and co-hosted a high-dollar fundraiser in Minnesota for his reelection campaign.
As an attorney, Wilson was part of the legal team that successfully defended Trump against challenges to remove him from the ballot in Minnesota. He also represented the Republican Party of Minnesota in its successful efforts to enforce party balance on Hennepin County’s absentee ballot boards and block Gov. Walz from prematurely calling a special election in a state House race.
Additionally, Wilson represented Demuth and other House Republicans earlier this year when they were engaged in a dispute with House Democrats over what constitutes a quorum. Democrats ultimately won that case.
“I am honored that Speaker Demuth has asked me to serve as her running mate in this pivotal election to send Tim Walz into retirement,” Wilson said in a press release. “Lisa is a proven fighter and leader. She’s the only candidate in this race who has stood up to Walz, stared him down, and won. Minnesotans are ready to rally behind Speaker Demuth in the months ahead.”
Wilson is a lifelong Minnesotan who lives in Maple Grove with his wife and four children. He’s a former small business owner who founded and grew a successful company that ran clinical trials for the medical device industry.
Anthony Gockowski
Anthony Gockowski is Editor-in-Chief of Alpha News. He previously worked as an editor for The Minnesota Sun and Campus Reform, and wrote for the Daily Caller.
