Campaign Spending Raises Eyebrows For MyPillow’s Mike Lindell

Mike Lindell ranked third at Tuesday night’s Republican caucus, so it’s safe to say he’ll stay in the Minnesota governor’s race for a little while longer. His campaign, however, is raising eyebrows for some spending issues.

According to the year-end campaign finance report, the Minnesota businessman raised $352,000 in campaign donations in 2025, but spent about $187,000 on copies of Lindell’s self-titled autobiography. In defense of the purchase, the campaign says they’re handing out copies of the book in place of regular campaign brochures. The book retails for $19.99, but sells for $10.00 with a coupon code.

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The campaign also spent $26,000 on “RV Wrap” for the campaign’s official vehicle.

The very crowded field of Republican candidates for governor found some direction at Tuesday night’s caucus. With the majority of precinct results in but still not 100% finalized, the top three vote-getters in the Republican straw poll were:

• House Speaker Lisa Demuth — ~32% of the preference vote, making her the early leader in the GOP field.
• Businessman and Army veteran Kendall Qualls — ~25–26%, holding a solid second place in early returns.
• MyPillow CEO Mike Lindell — ~17–17.5%, placing third among caucus participants.

Together, these three candidates captured a majority of the Republican straw poll vote, with the rest of the field splitting the remaining votes or attracting undecided preferences.