Mike Lindell seeks temporary restraining order after missing payment deadline for Minnesota gubernatorial recount funding

MyPillow founder Mike Lindell says he missed a deadline tied to payments needed for a Minnesota recount project and is asking a court for a temporary restraining order against Minnesota Secretary of State Steve Simon. Lindell announced Monday that his legal filing would seek court relief amid what he described as late-stage constraints affecting his efforts to finance a private recount of the state’s gubernatorial primaries.

According to Lindell’s campaign statement reported by The Hill, Simon’s office had put Lindell “in an untenable position” by placing restrictions that Lindell said interfered with his ability to meet the deadline tied to the recount payment. Lindell’s filing is framed as an emergency request designed to keep the recount funding effort from being stalled while the court considers the dispute.

The recount at issue involves Minnesota’s gubernatorial primaries, which are administered under state election law and supervised through the secretary of state’s election administration role. Lindell’s approach, as described in the report, is not part of a standard state-ordered recount but instead depends on Lindell’s ability to fund a recount through a private mechanism, with the secretary of state’s office setting requirements tied to timing and payment.

Lindell’s announcement comes as election administration disputes in Minnesota have increasingly focused on how recount-related requests are processed, what timelines apply, and whether applicants can obtain adjustments when deadlines are missed or when administrative requirements change during the process. In such cases, courts typically examine whether the party seeking injunctive relief has shown a likelihood of success and faces irreparable harm absent immediate court action, along with considerations of balance of harms and the public interest.

The secretary of state’s office, in this matter, is the venue for the election administration determinations that Lindell is challenging. By seeking a temporary restraining order, Lindell is asking a court to intervene quickly and potentially pause enforcement of the constraints that he says make it impossible to comply with the payment deadline as set by Simon’s office.

If the court grants the order, it could allow Lindell’s recount-funding effort to proceed without the immediate administrative consequence of missing the deadline. If the court denies the request, Lindell’s project could face additional procedural obstacles, including whether the recount funding framework remains available and whether deadlines have passed such that the recount cannot be funded on the requested terms.

The next steps will depend on the timing of the court hearing on the temporary restraining order and any follow-on motion practice. The dispute’s resolution will also turn on the court’s interpretation of Minnesota’s recount administration rules and the extent to which the secretary of state’s office has discretion to impose or enforce the payment-related restrictions that Lindell says prevent him from complying.