The Minnesota Republican Party has released results from the third round of voting to choose its endorsement for governor, setting up a high-stakes competition among the remaining candidates. In this third ballot, the party’s members evaluated who should continue advancing based on a specific threshold rule.
On the third ballot, Lisa Demuth emerged as the clear front-runner. She won 41.5% of the votes, with 807 total votes cast in her favor. Her percentage indicates she is holding a solid lead among the GOP endorsement field as the process narrows further. The early momentum suggests that Demuth remains the candidate most supported by the party’s voters in this round.
Kendall Qualls placed second, capturing 35.9% of the vote. Qualls received 698 votes. While that is behind Demuth’s total, it is close enough to show that Qualls remains a major contender. The distribution of votes indicates that the GOP endorsement process is still competitive, with substantial backing for more than one candidate heading into whatever comes next.
Mike Lindell finished third and received a noticeably smaller share of support compared with the top two. He earned 22.1% of the votes, totaling 429 votes. Although Lindell reached more than one-fifth of the vote, his performance on the third ballot has significant consequences because of the party’s advancement rule.
The results are particularly consequential because the endorsement process includes a clear cutoff: any candidate that does not reach 20% on this round will not advance. In other words, the party established that only those meeting or exceeding that minimum level of support will continue in the process. Since Lindell received 22.1%, he appears to have cleared the threshold required to remain eligible for subsequent rounds.
Even so, the gap between the candidates is still notable. Demuth’s 41.5% is nearly five percentage points higher than Qualls’ 35.9%, and the difference between Qualls and Lindell is close to fourteen percentage points. These numbers demonstrate that while the third ballot still allows the leading candidates to move forward, it also signals diminishing relative support for the lowest-ranked candidate in the round.
As the process advances, the party’s next steps will likely focus on whether voter preferences consolidate around one of the top contenders or whether the field continues to remain fluid. With the 20% threshold already in place, the stakes for every subsequent ballot increase: candidates must maintain enough support to stay in contention, and they must also position themselves to build enough momentum to catch up to the current leader.
The third ballot results also provide a snapshot of how GOP voters are dividing their support at this stage of the endorsement process. Demuth’s leading position suggests her campaign messaging and appeal resonate most strongly with the voters who participated in this ballot. Meanwhile, Qualls’ strong second-place finish indicates that she has a substantial base and could potentially close the gap depending on how votes shift in later rounds.
Lindell’s outcome is the clearest indicator of where support is weakest among the remaining candidates after the third ballot. However, because he is above the 20% rule, the process may still allow him to remain in the mix. Whether he can improve on his 22.1% in later ballots—or whether the voting blocs that supported him redistribute toward the front-runners—will become apparent only as the remaining rounds are completed.
Overall, the Minnesota Republican Party’s third ballot has narrowed the field into a hierarchy of support: Lisa Demuth leads with 807 votes (41.5%), Kendall Qualls follows with 698 votes (35.9%), and Mike Lindell trails with 429 votes (22.1%). The advancement threshold of 20% applies to whether candidates move on, making this stage a turning point for the endorsement decision. Source: Luke Sprinkel.
Luke Sprinkel: BREAKING: Results from the third ballot of the Minnesota Republican Party’s endorsement for governor. 1. Lisa Demuth: 41.5% (807 votes) 2. Kendall Qualls: 35.9% (698 votes) 3. Mike Lindell: 22.1% (429 votes) Any candidate that does not reach 20% on this round will not advance. #breaking
— @LukeSprinkel May 1, 2026
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