In Minn., Disaster Averted

 by John Hinderaker

There have been lots of bizarre primary results around the country–mostly on the Democrat side, to be fair–but it looks like here in Minnesota, reason has prevailed.

Lisa Demuth, the Speaker of the Minnesota House of Representatives, has been called as the winner of the Republican primary for governor. Results here. This is notable because Mike Lindell, the My Pillow guy, was also in the race, and he was endorsed by Donald Trump. Trump’s endorsement was, frankly, idiotic. Lindell hadn’t the faintest qualifications to be governor, and if he had gotten the nomination, he would have been crushed by Amy Klobuchar, something like 80% to 20%. Lindell led in some polls, but I never believed that he had a serious chance, in part because I know hundreds of people who voted in the Republican primary, and I don’t know anyone who voted for Lindell. 

Lisa Demuth, on the other hand, has a realistic chance to win, and at a minimum, won’t drag down the rest of the ticket. It is worth noting that Minnesota does not have partisan registration, so Democrats could have crossed over to vote for Lindell. They didn’t do so in significant numbers, because there was an important race on the DFL side, about which more in a moment.

The other major primary was for an open U.S. Senate seat. On the Republican side, my friend Michele Tafoya won a resounding victory. She is an outstanding candidate, smart, articulate, disciplined, hardworking and solidly conservative. With Lisa Demuth and Michele Tafoya, Minnesota Republicans will have stronger candidates at the top of the ticket than at any time since the days of Tim Pawlenty and Norm Coleman.

On the Democrat side, Lieutenant Governor Peggy Flanagan and Congresswoman Angie Craig contended for the Senate nomination. Flanagan is hard left, while Craig is hard left pretending, until now, to be a moderate because she represents a swing district–mine. Craig attacked Flanagan from the left throughout the campaign, but it didn’t work. Al Franken, Tina Smith, Bernie Sanders, Ilhan Omar and other far-left luminaries backed Flanagan, and we all know where Democratic primary voters are this year. They went for Flanagan, something like 59% to 40%.

This is good for Republicans because Flanagan is a poor candidate. She is almost a parody of a far-left politician and unlikeable to boot, and as Tim Walz’s Lieutenant Governor she can’t escape the fraud scandals that have engulfed our state. I think there is a strong likelihood that Michele Tafoya, a vastly more talented candidate, will beat her.

And if that seat flips, there is no way Democrats can take control of the Senate. Which means that Tafoya will attract serious national money. Republicans are always outspent in Minnesota, usually somewhere between three to one and seven to one, because lots of money flows into DFL coffers from rich liberals who live in other states. If Tafoya achieves something approaching financial parity, say being outspent only two to one, she will win and Republicans will hold the Senate. 

https://www.powerlineblog.com/archives/2026/08/disaster-averted.php