Minnesota’s Governor race is top of mind for voters as many candidates seek to replace Tim Walz, who dropped out due to pressure following national exposure of the massive Somali fraud he enabled. Now, seven Republicans are running to be the GOP nominee. 

Below you will learn about each candidate running.

Mike Lindell & Phillip Parrish

My Pillow founder Mike Lindell and Navy veteran Phillip Parrish is the leading anti-establishment ticket and they have been endorsed by President Donald Trump. While the Establishment was likely pushing Trump to oppose Lindell, Trump said he admires Lindell’s loyalty and couldn’t go against him. Lindell has the highest name recognition of the GOP candidates, largely thanks to his prominent role in the 2020 Stop The Steal election integrity efforts. Despite crooked Democrats and deep state actors trying to take Lindell down, he has refused to back down. Lindell has proposed a state budget that would eliminate the income tax and significantly shrink government. Lindell and Parrish have each signed Action 4 Liberty’s Never Again Pledge, signifying that they would protect individual liberties and will never allow another Governor to shut down MN like Walz did during Covid. Mike Lindell has led in statewide primary polls and has an undeniable grassroots base of support.  

Kendall Qualls & Brian Nicholson

Healthcare businessman Kendall Qualls and home manufacturing businessman Brian Nicholson are the MNGOP-endorsed candidates for Governor and Lt. Governor after winning the endorsement on the tenth ballot at the state convention. Despite having the party endorsement, the Qualls campaign has fallen to third place in polling. J6er Brian Nicholson has only received negative coverage from the media, some of which alleges that he owes workers money, used company funds for personal expenses, or asked for fraudulent loan documents to be submitted. Nicholson has denied the claims but has likely dragged the ticket down. Though Qualls has been able to raise competitive funds throughout most of this race, he has spent nearly $300,000 of it on political consultants, several of which being out of state. Qualls has appealed to conservatives on several issues and will benefit from the MNGOP mailer telling voters to support the endorsed candidates. Qualls refused to sign A4L’s Never Again Pledge in his 2022 campaign and during the beginning of his 2026 run but signed the pledge at a debate for candidates that would abide by the party endorsement. Interestingly, RINO Lisa Demuth also participated in that debate despite her backtracking on her word and continuing her campaign after losing the party endorsement.

Lisa Demuth & Ryan Wilson

RINO Lisa Demuth is the Speaker of the House who has failed conservatives on just about every issue. Demuth has been reliant on an out of state billionaire to fund a Super PAC (Restore Sanity) running TV commercials for her. Despite Restore Sanity spending over $1 Million for Demuth before the endorsement, she was crushed at the convention due to the votes of grassroots conservatives. Demuth is the only GOP candidate taking money from lobbyists/special interests. As Speaker, Demuth cut backroom deals with Tim Walz, corruptly passed unconstitutional omnibus bills, funded abortion, funded Somali fraud, certified Democrat election fraud (Brad Tabke), opposed the Never Again Bill, and voted for gun control. Ryan Wilson has hurt his own credibility with conservatives by choosing to defend Demuth’s corrupt, liberal record in office. The Demuth/Wilson disinformation campaign to fool conservatives has placed Demuth in second place in most primary polling.

Raul Estrada & Joe Kincaid

Raul Estrada is a construction worker and organizer with the American Indian Coalition who is running an unorthodox campaign with Joe Kincaid, who is better known as Joe Liberty. While most politicians will be found wearing suits, Estrada can be found wearing overalls. Estrada and Kincaid have run an anti-establishment campaign to “Crush Communism”. The Estrada campaign did not compete for the MNGOP endorsement and has very limited campaign funds. Estrada has signed Action 4 Liberty’s Never Again Pledge.

John Krhin & Dennis Conn

John Krhin is a retired pastor from Side Lake and pushes a biblical campaign message as seen in his 87 County prayer tour. He explains in a campaign video that his father was 60 years old (born in 1892) and his mother was 50 years old when he was born as the youngest of 8 children, highlighting his unique life experience and upbringing. Krhin selected pilot Dennis Conn as his running mate. Krhin competed for the MNGOP endorsement but was eliminated in 6th place at the state convention. After the convention, John stated that his social security number was leaked by the MNGOP for a short period of time. Krhin has largely self-funded his campaign which allows him to be truly independent but some concern has been raised about his spending on campaign managers. Krhin has signed A4L's Never Again Pledge.

Ross Nova & Kerry Busby

Ross Nova is a truck driver and unserious candidate. He has a campaign website that features creepy AI videos of him but makes no mention of his running mate. Nova has refused to sign A4L’s Never Again Pledge. Minnesota’s court record search makes it appear that Nova has previously been committed for a mental health reason and his running mate has a criminal record.

Loner Blue & Andrew Maass

Loner Blue is a perennial candidate where very little is known about him or his campaign. His campaign has not filed campaign finance reports, likely because they have not raised or spent enough to be obligated to do so. Loner Blue does have a Facebook account where some of views can be seen. Not much information can be found on Blue and Maass other than searches in the Minnesota court record search.

Democrats

While it appears Amy Klobuchar is a shoe-in for the Democrat ticket, she does face competition from six opponents. This includes:

1. A transgender socialist named Kobey Layne who previously was a legislative staffer for RINO Jim Abeler. Layne competed for the Democrat party endorsement and nearly blocked Klobuchar winning in the first round of the state convention

2. A perennial candidate named Ole “Viking“ Savior

3. A man who calls himself Mohammad Wazwaz on the ballot and Mohammad Majed on his website, appears to be related to the Wazwaz vape shop family and a Palestinian activist

4. A convicted rapist named Tom Evenstad that alleges he was framed

5. A self-described centrist and former pastor named Bill Gates Jr. (no relation to billionaire Bill Gates) 

6. A disabled man named Po Vang who is opposed to AIPAC and tells people to “Vote for the cripple, Not the retards”

If nothing else, people cannot say the Minnesota Governor race is boring!

Action 4 Liberty will continue to keep Patriots informed with liberty-based reporting that cannot be found anywhere else.