Trump’s Lindell Endorsement Shakes Up The Minnesota Governor’s Race
UNDATED (WJON News) -- Last week, President Donald Trump weighed in on the race for Minnesota Governor. Trump endorsed his friend and longtime supporter Mike Lindell. Lindell is in a tight primary race with the Republican endorsed candidate Kendall Qualls and Minnesota Speaker of the House Lisa Demuth.
Fluence Media Political Analyst Blois Olson says Trump's announcement does two things: it boosts Lindell's chances of winning the primary, nd it also turns attention to that race, which it hadn't been getting. Olson says this could boost voter turnout.
When Republicans are concerned about candidate quality, they show up more so. There's definitely a vein of the Republican Party that wants to move on from Trump. They also don't want Lindell to be the candidate, because they are worried about Lindell not being competitive in November.
Olson says, of those three candidates, he would be the most surprised if Qualls won the primary.
Olson says he's sensing that Demuth and Republican U.S. Senate candidate Michelle Tafoya are embracing each other.
Neither one of them has the endorsement. Both of them are seen as the most competitive by most observers in the general election. The idea that women show up to vote for both of them in the primary helps both of them.
Olson is guessing they have some sort of coordinated effort to get out the vote for them from people who are less MAGA but still want conservative candidates.
Olson says Trump's endorsement doesn't necessarily mean an automatic win for that candidate.
Regionally, in the south, it has played out that the Trump endorsement is successful. But, in the Midwest, like in Iowa and Michigan, it has not been an automatic win. In fact, the non-Trump-endorsed candidate won in Iowa.
Olson says he'll be curious to see what Lindell does with Trump's endorsement in terms of fundraising and advertising in the remaining weeks leading up to the August 11th primary.
Early voting for the August primary is already underway. Primary Day is three weeks from Tuesday on Tuesday, August 11th. The winner of the Republican Gubernatorial primary will take on the DFL presumptive candidate, U.S. Senator Amy Klobuchar, in the general election in November.
Little River Band at the Ledge Amphitheater, 2026.
Gallery Credit: Paul Habstritt