President Donald Trump’s endorsement wasn’t enough to power Mike Lindell to the Republican nomination for governor in Minnesota. The former MyPillow CEO is projected to lose to Minnesota House Speaker Lisa Demuth in Tuesday’s Republican primary. On Tuesday evening, however, Lindell said he wouldn’t concede immediately even if the Associated Press called the race for Demuth, whom he trailed by a significant margin. “I’m not going to give up this race until the votes are counted,” Lindell told reporters shortly before the AP called the race. “That’s nonsense.”The Lindell campaign did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Wednesday morning. Lindell is a conspiracy theorist and strong supporter of Trump and his outlandish claims that voter fraud corrupted the 2020 presidential election. His advocacy made him a target for a series of defamation lawsuits but won Trump’s support. Earlier Tuesday, Trump said Lindell deserved to win big on his Truth Social platform: “Nobody has worked harder, and given up so much, in fighting for free and fair Elections.”Lindell’s defeat is a huge loss for both Lindell and Trump, who often brags about the power of his endorsement. Lindell’s reluctance to concede is not terribly surprising. Though he had support from the national leader of the Republican Party, Minnesota Republicans wanted someone else to be their standard-bearer in the governor’s race, endorsing health care industry executive Kendall Qualls. Minnesota Republican Party chairman Alex Plechash said Minnesota Republicans were surprised when Trump endorsed Lindell in July. “We strongly support the President and his agenda, but Minnesota Republicans must choose the candidate best positioned to defeat Amy Klobuchar,” Plechash said in a statement last month. Plechash pointed to Lindell’s “serious financial baggage, public records showing tens of thousands of dollars in delinquent property taxes, significant electability concerns, and unanswered questions surrounding his running mate [Phillip Parrish].” (In Minnesota, gubernatorial candidates run on a ticket alongside a lieutenant governor candidate.) Last week, Plechash questioned whether Lindell is even eligible to be governor, saying it appeared he lived in Texas. Lindell provided paystubs to a local TV station showing he’d been working and paying taxes in Minnesota since August, 2025, apparently fulfilling Minnesota’s requirement for candidates to have been residents of the state for at least a year as of election day. “I don’t know why Alex Plechash, or whatever his last name is, and what he has against me,” Lindell told 5 Eyewitness News. “But ever since I got Donald Trump, the president’s endorsement, he has viciously attacked.”