Former MyPillow CEO Mike Lindell says he’s prepared to pay upwards of $1 million to hand recount the ballots in the Minnesota Republican gubernatorial primary, even after a decisive 11-point loss.
“Even if this recount and audit does not overturn my election for governor of Minnesota, I believe this is the gateway to getting rid of these electronic voting machines,” Lindell said in a press release Tuesday.
Lindell, a President Donald Trump-backed election conspiracy theorist, lost to Minnesota House Speaker Lisa Demuth last week, but refused to concede, claiming there were “irregularities in election-night electronic reporting.”
His loss also ultimately fell outside the 0.25% threshold that would trigger an automatic state-funded recount.
Lindell now has to submit a formal request for the recount to the Minnesota secretary of state’s office. He told NBC News in a brief phone call on Wednesday that he will “personally go in there myself.”
The former CEO added that he has already hired his own team to begin investigating the election results and was informed that a full hand recount would cost about $825,000. However, Lindell said he expects to pay “upwards of $1 million” due to additional costs.
Lindell became a prominent voice within the MAGA space by promoting debunked conspiracy theories that Trump’s own 2020 presidential election loss was stolen.
In 2025, He settled a $1.3 billion defamation lawsuit filed by Dominion Voting Systems, a voting technology company, over his claims. Around the same time, a jury in Colorado awarded a former Dominion employee $2.3 million after he said Lindell defamed him.