Trump-Endorsed Minnesota Gov. Candidate Mike Lindell Isn’t Even Registered to Vote in the State

AP Photo/Manuel Balce Ceneta, File

Pillowmonger and conspiracy monger Mike Lindell is running for governor in Minnesota, but he isn’t even registered to vote there.

Lindell scored President Donald Trump’s endorsement on Wednesday and has maintained a small lead in the polls. But it should be noted that the race has not been polled in several weeks, and the last few polls showed about a third of Republican voters were still undecided. Lindell’s prominent role as a promulgator of baseless claims of election fraud have raised his name recognition but sparked concerns about his viability as a general election candidate.

The My Pillow founder was born and raised in Minnesota and briefly attended the University of Minnesota before dropping out. He was, however, living in Texas for a few years before deciding to run to be the Gopher State’s next governor.

According to the Minnesota Secretary of State’s website, candidates for governor must “be at least 25 years old upon assuming office,” be “a resident of Minnesota for at least one year before the general election,” and “be eligible to vote in Minnesota.”

Lindell moved back to Minnesota last fall, so has just barely met the one-year residency requirement.

And luckily for him, the state law only requires him to be eligible to vote, not to actually be registered to do so — because he’s still registered to vote in Texas and has not yet registered in Minnesota, according to a report by The Minnesota Star Tribune Friday.

As it stands now, Lindell cannot legally vote for himself in the August 11 primary.

The 65-year-old is running in a crowded GOP primary field that includes Speaker of the Minnesota House of Representatives Lisa Demuth (R) and healthcare tech executive Kendall Qualls.

For the Minnesota Democratic–Farmer–Labor Party, which affiliates with the national Democratic Party, former vice presidential candidate and incumbent Gov. Tim Walz is not running for re-election. The field largely cleared for Sen. Amy Klobuchar (D-MN); none of her primary opponents have held elected office before and have raised just a few thousand dollars all together compared to Klobuchar’s $7 million-plus haul.

Cassondra Knudson, spokesperson for the Minnesota Secretary of State, told the Star Tribune that Lindell “does not have an active record” in the state’s voter files, and the paper found he did still have an active voter registration in Texas.

Reached for comment, Lindell told the Star Tribune he was not sure about his Minnesota voter registration status and would check on it. He insisted “obviously I’m going to vote,” and promised he would not vote in Texas because he is no longer a resident there and was “not going to vote twice.”

“Lindell does not need to be registered to vote in Minnesota to run for office here,” the Star Tribune’s report noted. “But his lack of knowledge about his voter registration status is notable for a candidate who has called for strict scrutiny of voter rolls and made election integrity the central pillar of his campaign and political life.”

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