MyPillow founder and CEO Mike Lindell has announced he will run for Minnesota governor in 2026, seeking the Republican nomination to challenge DFL incumbent Gov. Tim Walz.

Lindell, 64, last week filed the paperwork to potentially run, but at the time said he hadn't yet 100% decided on a gubernatorial run. On Thursday, he made it official.

"After prayerful consideration and hearing from so many of you across our great state, I've made the decision to enter the 2026 gubernatorial race," Lindell posted on social media Thursday. "I'm still standing and I'll stand for you."

Lindell will run as a noted ally of President Trump, and enters a crowded field of names who have already tossed their hats into the ring, as Walz, a Democrat, attempts to secure an unprecedented third consecutive four-year term as Minnesota's governor.

"We've seen what happens when we elect a con man to the highest office in America," Walz said Thursday, responding to Lindell's announcement. "We can't let it happen here in Minnesota."

Lindell joins a field of about a dozen GOP candidates seeking the party's nomination, including state House Republican speaker Lisa Demuth, 2022 gubernatorial nominee Dr. Scott Jensen, who lost to Walz in the 2022 midterms, as well as Minnesota Rep. Kristin Robbins, Kendall Qualls and defense lawyer Chris Madel. 

Lindell launched a campaign website, listing his main campaign priorities as including stopping fraud, fixing "failing school systems," stopping "exploding property taxes" and "send(ing) illegal immigrants back." 

Richard Carlbom, chair of the Minnesota DFL party, said Thursday that Lindell's candidacy "represents exactly what today's Republican Party keeps offering Minnesotans: conspiracy and chaos. He's looking to run our state like he's run his business and his campaign so far—sloppy, loud, and headed for disaster." A spokesperson with the Democratic Governors Association added, "Far-right conspiracy theorist Mike Lindell's entrance into Minnesota's GOP gubernatorial primary turbocharges what was already a crowded and chaotic race to curry favor with Donald Trump at the expense of the issues that matter most to Minnesotans."

Lindell's MyPillow has been at the center of a number of legal issues through the years, and earlier this year was ordered to pay hundreds of thousands of dollars to shipping company DHL.

Also, a judge this year ruled that Lindell defamed election technology company Smartmatic after he alleged their voting machines rigged the 2020 presidential election in favor of former President Joe Biden. Lindell made similar unfounded claims against Dominion Voting Systems.

Minnesota has a history of political outsiders overperforming in statewide races, most notably former Gov. Jesse Ventura's surprising win in 1998, but it's also been two decades since a Republican won a statewide race in the increasingly blue-tilting state.