ST. PAUL, Minn. – Once high-flying but now penniless pillow purveyor Mike Lindell says he may run for governor. He expressed interest on his online site Frank. Lindell, age 63, has done this before – in 2020 while campaigning for Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump, but he didn’t follow through. Instead he put a fortune into theTrump campaign. His MyPillow business, which had made him rich, collapsed over reckless spending for Trump and libel suits for fomenting whacky conspiracy theories. Although Trump lost his 2020 re-election bid, he welcomed Lindell at the White House the next few weeks but eventually dumped him as a nuisance and crank and declined to help with his escalating legal bills. Whether Lindell is currently a Minnesota resident is unclear. His MyPillow factory in Chaska has gone into receivership. In a 2021 interview he said he was no longer living in Minnesota and was not attending in-person events over safety concerns. Now he’s back, he says.
Verbatim
Lindell: “I live here in Minnesota. Everywhere I go, nobody wants Tim Walz. They don’t. You would not want Walz, you would want anything but him. You know, that’s what I’m hearing all over.”
Duckworth. A freshman in state Senate. Age 37. Father of four.
Duckworth candidacy
The second term of Democrat Tim Walz as governor ends in 2026,, He hasn’t announced his intentions — although he’s expected to seek re-election. The only announced candidate so far is state Senator Zach Duckworth, a Lakeville Republican, who said he also had pondered running for the U.S. Senate. Duckworth’s lively sense of humor, however, has clouded whether he’s serious: “For those asking about the U.S. Senate seat, I’m flattered and would love nothing more than to serve my country at a higher level. But I have four amazing reasons to stay close to home in Minnesota. Someone told me the governor’s residence has enough bedrooms for four kids.”
Earlier: Earlier: MyPillow thrown out of warehouses for back-rent
Earlier: Lindell off the Minnesota campaign trail
Earlier: Pillow guy eyes governorship