Mike Lindell, the MyPillow founder and Trump supporter, announced on Wednesday that he would personally finance a complete recount and audit of all paper ballots cast in Minnesota’s Republican primary for governor, which he lost the previous week.
Lindell finished a distant second to Minnesota House Speaker Lisa Demuth, trailing by roughly 11 percentage points in the August 11 election. The margin substantially exceeded the 0.25% threshold that would automatically trigger a state-funded recount under Minnesota law. Because the gap falls outside that margin, any recount request would require Lindell to cover the costs himself. According to estimates from Minnesota Secretary of State general counsel Lauren Bethke, a full recount of the gubernatorial and lieutenant gubernatorial races would cost approximately $825,000, with a deadline of August 24 to submit both the request and payment.
Lindell’s campaign asserted in its announcement that “irregularities identified in election-night electronic reporting data” motivated the recount request. Lindell cited a Minnesota statute allowing candidates to seek a complete hand count of every ballot cast statewide, stating he intended to exercise that right “to the full extent of the law.” The candidate had previously declined to concede the race despite the double-digit deficit, after the Associated Press called the contest for Demuth on election night.
The recount offer represents the latest election-related challenge from Lindell, whose political activities have centered on claims regarding the 2020 presidential election. Courts have repeatedly rejected such claims. Last month, Lindell settled a $1.3 billion defamation lawsuit filed by voting technology company Liberty Vote, formerly known as Dominion Voting Systems, related to election-integrity allegations he had made.
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