# Lisa Demuth **Lisa Demuth** is Speaker of the Minnesota House and the **2026 Republican nominee for Governor of Minnesota**. She has led the Republican side of a 67–67 tied chamber since February 2025. She was born in Paynesville in 1967, served more than a decade on the Cold Spring school board, and has represented District 13A (Cold Spring/St. Joseph, Stearns County) since 2019. The race is historic whichever way it goes. Her opponent is Sen. [[Amy Klobuchar]], so Minnesota will elect its first woman governor either way. Demuth is the first Republican woman nominated for the office, and if she wins she would be the state's first Black governor, according to National Governors Association data (FOX 9). ## How she won the nomination She won the **Aug. 11, 2026** primary with **43.4%**. She beat [[Mike Lindell]], who had [[Donald Trump]]'s endorsement, and [[Kendall Qualls]], who had the state party's convention endorsement. She had pledged to drop out if she lost the endorsement. After losing it in May she stayed in anyway, citing convention irregularities. It was the first time since 1994 that a Minnesota Republican won a primary after losing the party endorsement. For this KB, the result is a double rebuke: to the Trump endorsement, and to the MyPillow election-denial wing it backed. ## The campaign She is running on the state's welfare-fraud scandals under [[Tim Walz]], proposing a state Office of Inspector General, and on spending, taxes and public safety. At the State Fair she promised to bring "common sense" back and raised concerns about people moving to Minnesota for benefits. She opposes abortion. Most of the outside money backing her comes through the **Restore Sanity PAC**, which is funded by [[Restoration of America]] and [[Richard Uihlein]]. The PAC had spent $2.8 million by July 20. Klobuchar had $4.5 million on hand at that point and had raised $9.3 million since January. **Polling.** The KSTP/SurveyUSA poll of Aug. 13–17, 2026 had **Klobuchar 52%, Demuth 36%**, with 661 likely voters and a margin of error of ±4.3. Other public polls also show Klobuchar ahead. Full race detail is on [[MN-Gov-2026]]. ## Why she matters Demuth is the establishment-conservative nominee who beat both the MAGA endorsement and the party apparatus. She is running a Trump-era message on welfare fraud and migration without being Trump's pick. Her margin in November will show whether that version of the Republican message travels better than Lindell's in a blue state. ## Related - [[MN-Gov-2026]] · [[2026 Governor Races Hub]] - [[Amy Klobuchar]] · [[Tim Walz]] · [[Mike Lindell]] · [[Kendall Qualls]] - [[Richard Uihlein]] · [[Restoration of America]]