Lindell offers to fund Minnesota GOP primary recount

Mike Lindell says he is prepared to spend about $1 million to challenge his double-digit loss in Minnesota’s Republican primary for governor, offering to personally fund a full hand recount and audit of every paper ballot cast in the race.

The MyPillow founder and prominent supporter of President Donald Trump lost the Aug. 11 primary to Minnesota House Speaker Lisa Demuth by roughly 11 percentage points. The Associated Press called the race for Demuth late on election night, but Lindell has refused to concede.

In a phone call with NBC News on Wednesday, Lindell said he had hired his own team to investigate the primary and had contacted the Minnesota secretary of state’s office last week to ask how much a full recount would cost. Lauren Bethke, general counsel for the secretary of state’s office, told Lindell in a Tuesday letter that a full hand recount and audit would cost about $825,000.

Lindell said he expects the total cost to rise to “upwards of $1 million” when including additional expenses, such as his own investigative team. He said he is prepared to pay.

The secretary of state’s office said Wednesday it had not yet received an official recount request. Bethke’s letter said Lindell must submit the request along with “a bond, cash or surety” covering the estimated cost by Monday for the recount to proceed.

Lindell said he plans to “personally go in there myself” on Monday to deliver the formal request. He also said he is waiting for the office to confirm where each county would conduct its recount because he intends to send designated observers to those locations.

Minnesota law allows candidates to request a recount even when the margin is far outside the threshold for a state-funded recount, The Guardian reported. Lindell cited that provision in a news release, saying, “One of the few good election laws Minnesota does have is that as a candidate, I have the right to completely audit and hand-count every ballot in the state.” He said he intends to use that right “to the full extent of the law.”

Demuth’s margin was far beyond the 0.25% threshold that would trigger an automatic state-funded recount, meaning Lindell would have to cover the cost himself.

In the same news release, Lindell’s campaign alleged “irregularities identified in election-night electronic reporting data.” Lindell told NBC News that his team found several “irregularities” in election data that he believes are tied to electronic voting machines.

“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,” he said.

Lindell has for years repeated debunked claims that voting machines rigged the 2020 election. Courts have repeatedly rejected claims that Trump’s 2020 defeat resulted from a rigged or stolen election, The Guardian reported.

Voting machine companies have sued Lindell over his false election claims. A federal judge in January ordered him to pay Smartmatic USA Corp. $56,369 after the company sued him for defamation. After Lindell refused to pay the sanctions, the judge added a $500 daily fine, which now exceeds the original sanctions.

Lindell said Wednesday he still does not intend to pay those court fees. His attorneys have asked U.S. District Judge Jeffrey Bryan, who ruled in September that Lindell had defamed Smartmatic, for permission to file a motion to reconsider. Their letter cites “newly available evidence,” referring to heavily redacted election security documents Trump released July 16. NBC News reported that those documents did not show evidence of widespread voter fraud in the 2020 election.

Lindell said the documents support his claims and vowed to continue challenging Smartmatic even if the judge declines to reconsider the case.

“I can tell you that, regardless, it doesn’t matter what goes on with whether he accepts that or not,” Lindell said.

The Guardian reported that Lindell last month settled a $1.3 billion defamation lawsuit filed by Liberty Vote, formerly known as Dominion Voting Systems, over his stolen-election claims.