Mike Lindell leads a crowded field running in the Republican primary for governor in Minnesota, a new internal poll finds. With the president’s endorsement, undecideds break considerably and his lead expands to a commanding 22-point lead.
On the initial ballot, Lindell leads his closest competitor Minnesota House Speaker Lisa Demuth among all likely primary voters by 2 points, 21% to 19%, with Kendall Qualls lagging far behind at 9%. Non-college voters and voters outside the Twin Cities back Lindell, while college educated and Twin Cities voters back Demuth.
Rural voters are backing Lindell by a nearly 2 to 1 margin (27% to 14.1%), while the suburbs are statistically tied. Urban primary voters back Demuth with 20%.
“Mike Lindell leads among the core demographics that make up the primary coalition that nominated President Trump, to include the working class voters by income and education levels who were stalwart supporters of the president,” BIG DATA POLL Director Rich Baris said in a statement. “Republican primary voters are looking for a fight, and Lindell’s longtime support for the president and willingness to fight on issues have not gone unnoticed by the base.”
“With the president’s endorsement, this race would effectively be over.”
If President Trump endorses Lindell’s bid for governor, undecided primary voters decline and swing significantly to Lindell, while 25% of Demuth’s vote vanishes in favor of deference to the president. Rural voters move to back Lindell by a nearly 5 to 1 margin (47% to 9%), while the suburbs back him roughly 2 to 1 (33% to 14%). Urban voters tighten to a statistical tie.
BIG DATA POLL conducted a survey interviewing 1,236 registered voters to include 1,114 likely voters (Republicans n-512) from May 18 to May 20, 2026. Results were weighted for sex, age, race and ethnicity, education, and region. The overall sampling error is ±2.8% at a 95% confidence level. It is important to note that sampling errors for subgroups are higher. Interactive crosstabs can be viewed here on MarketSight.
