by Michelle Griffith, Minnesota Reformer June 2, 2026 House Speaker Lisa Demuth, R-Cold Spring, announced Tuesday that she will run in the Republican primary for Minnesota governor despite previously pledging to drop out of the race if she lost the GOP endorsement. The party’s more than 2,000 delegates chose Army veteran and former health care executive Kendall Qualls on Saturday in a lengthy process that took 10 ballots to resolve. The announcement sets up a three-way Republican primary on Aug.