On August 11, 2026, Minnesota held a primary election in which Mike Lindell was running as a Republican for Minnesota governor.

That same day, Trump posted the following on Truth Social:

Mike Lindell deserves a BIG WIN IN MINNESOTA today. Nobody has worked harder, and given up so much, in fighting for free and fair Elections. Go out, NOW, and VOTE for Mike Lindell for Governor. He will not let you down. Thank you! President DJT

After the election, with 99% of votes counted, vote totals for Republican governor showed Lisa Demuth with 179,683, Mike Lindell with 134,282, and Kendall Qualls with 88,413.

On August 18, 2026 Lindell announced that he will privately fund a statewide recount of the Minnesota primary election, citing the following "irregularities" in election-night electronic reporting data:

• Vote totals that moved backwards during the reporting
• Unusual synchronized vote totals across all seven Republican candidates
• Counties reporting more votes than cast
• Additional irregularites now under review

In his announcement, Lindell also said:

Even if this recount and audit does not overturn my election for governor of Minnesota, I believe this is the gateway to getting rid of these electronic voting machines. One hundred and thirty-two countries have banned these machines already. The United States should be setting the standard for elections, instead we are the worst in the world.

On August 24, 2026, the deadline for Lindell to submit payment for his privately funded recount, Lindell announced the filing of a temporary restraining order against Minnesota Secretary of State Steve Simon claiming that Simon, "at the last minute, changed the scope of the recount in violation of Minnesota law," citing Minnesota Statute Section 204C.35, "Subd. 3. Scope of recount." The announcement also stated that Lindell had the $825,000 payment "primed and ready to cover the costs" for the recount, and that he had asked Steve Simon to "waive the statutory payment deadline until a court can rule on the parameters of the recount proposed by the Secretary of State."

On August 25, 2026, speaking with NBC News Lindell said:

I paid this to have all of the votes counted, not just two people. I need to have a real recount, and I will fight this in court and get that real recount. I don't care if it costs triple. I didn't hold back anything. They did a bait-and-switch on me, and it's disgusting.

According to Cassondra Knudson, a spokesperson for Minnesota Secretary of State Steve Simon:

Our office provided the contingent recount plan to Mr. Lindell after it was approved by the State Canvassing Board on August 18. The plan follows state law and administrative rules on recount procedures, and is consistent with plans of its kind for the past two decades.

On August 29, 2026, the Minnesota Supreme Court a rejected Lidell's bid for a recount.

Lindell said he plans to take his case to the U.S. Supreme Court.

Commentary:

When you think of Mike Lindell, what one-word description comes to mind?

Yeah, that's right, it's PARANOIA.

Like Trump, Lindell is obsessed with the false belief that elections are always "rigged" against Republicans.

What's just as troubling is how many people actually voted for Lindell. If you look at a county breakdown map of vote totals on the NBC News you see that Lindell did quite well in many rural areas of Minnesota. This is confirmation of just how pervasive the election denial movement is.

Lindell's entire charade is completely pointless. He lost the election to Demuth by 10.9 percent, yet he claims, apparently, that supposed "irregularities" would account for that much of a difference. What kind of a fool would believe such a thing?

It's clear that Lindell is championing the effort to get rid of all voting machines, but if that's your objective, why would you bring that fight after an election in which you lost by almost 11 percent?

Lindell is a religious zealot who believes he is on a mission from God to get rid of what I'm sure he believes are "evil" voting machines. Like Trump, he exaggerates, gaslights, and tells outright lies in order to perpetuate the "Big Lie."

Mike Lindell is "B-squared F" (beyond, beyond FUBAR).