How can we miss you if you don't go away?

This will be an exercise in futility, but it ain't my money. 

MyPillow CEO Mike Lindell on Wednesday announced plans to pay for a private recount after losing the Minnesota Republican governor primary to House Speaker Lisa Demuth by 45,000 votes.

Lindell is seeking a statewide recount and audit of every ballot cast in the GOP primary. Around 414,000 voters took part in the Republican contest for governor.

The Minnesota Secretary of State estimates the recount will cost more than $825,000.

Demuth had more than 43% of the vote to Lindell’s more than 32%. GOP-endorsed Kendall Qualls had 21% of the vote, with the remaining votes shared by four other candidates.

While publicly funded voter recounts for governor’s races in Minnesota require the difference in votes between a winning and losing candidate to be less than one-quarter of a percent, or 0.25%, a candidate can personally finance what is known as a discretionary recount.

“One of the few good election laws Minnesota does have, is that as a candidate, I have the right to completely audit and hand count every ballot in the state, and I am going to exercise that right to full extent of the law,” Lindell said in a news release on his plan.

So once the results show that Demuth did indeed win the primary handily, what does Lindell do then? Does he continue to cling to a fantasy that the election was stolen from him, thus causing his supporters to distrust Minnesota's election system, resulting in depressing overall Republican turnout for the November general? That was the strategy of his pal Donald Trump in Georgia back in January of 2021, an exercise which cost the GOP a majority in the U.S. Senate.  

If Lindell's reaction to this recount (which will ultimately confirm his resounding defeat) is anything other than congratulating Demuth on her victory, it validates my belief that his main addiction has transitioned from crack to delusional attention whore. 

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Cancel this!

For the past few years, Nate Bargatze has been arguably the most well-known and successful standup comedian in the world. From sold out venues across the globe to wildly popular Netflix specials, Bargatze has been the proverbial King Midas. 

Because he's a down-to-earth, good ol' boy from Nashville who is part of a nuclear family, leftists approached him with knee-jerk skepticism. Even though he's never been remotely political in his act nor when conducting his podcast, progs were just lying in wait for Bargatze to "tip his hand" as a MAGA-ite. 

Sure enough, the left attempted to collect Bargatze's scalp when he attended the UFC event on the White House lawn on President Trump's 80th birthday. And he apparently committed a mortal sin by being photographed with HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. and wife Cheryl Hines. Y'see, in the collective mind of proggies, the wrong people being fans of your work is held against the artist, even if said artist doesn't show even tacit approval of a presidential administration. Regardless, in leftists' minds a betrayal has occurred and thus retribution in the form of cancellation must commence. 

As we've learned within the past decade of "cancel culture," those who are sought for cancelation over something trivial need not address it and thus just press forward with their lives as normal. And when a proverbial Leviathan like Bargatze presses on, this is the end result. 

Nate Bargatze Sets Guinness World Record for Most Tickets Sold for a Stand-Up Comedy Tour (EXCLUSIVE) https://t.co/Vcp7PvIm5f

— Variety (@Variety) August 15, 2026

Oof. Thoughts and prayers for the woke scolds. 

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Box Score of the Week

Washington Nationals at Philadelphia Athletics - July 22, 1923.

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There have been 20 pitchers in the history of Major League Baseball who have struck out at least 3,000 batters over their career. Washington's Walter Johnson became the first to achieve such a milestone by recording his 3,000th strikeout in that 1923 game in Philly. 

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The NARN Closer's playlist - 8/16/2026

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Why don't you cash in your chips, why don't you call it a loss......

There's a whole lotta Minnesota stuff to get to, so I'll do my best to squeeze in as much as I can on today's edition of my radio show The Closer. The 2-hour blitz will get started at 1:00 PM Central Time. 

I'll start the broadcast with a recap of the MN primary elections and how the statewide candidates chosen would seem to indicate that Republican voters are finally serious about winning a general! 

At 1:30, the Republican candidate in Minnesota's Second Congressional District Eric Pratt will stop by to discuss his candidacy. Given this is an open seat (Democrat Angie Craig is not seeking reelection) in a swing district, this is a rare opportunity for the GOP to flip a U.S. House seat this cycle. 

At 2:00, GOP candidate for MN State Senate Heidi Heino will stop by to tout her candidacy in SD 36, which includes such cities as White Bear Lake, Vadnais Heights, North Oaks and Lino Lakes. 

So please call (651) 289-4488 if you'd like to weigh in on any of the topics we plan on addressing.

 

You can listen live in the Twin Cities at AM 1280 or, if you're near downtown Minneapolis/West Metro area, 107.5 FM on your radio dial. In and out of the Minneapolis-St Paul area you can listen to the program on the Internet by clicking this link, or check us out via iheart radio as well as Amazon Alexa (just say "Alexa, play The Patriot Minneapolis"). If you're unable to tune in live, please check out my podcast page for the latest show post.

And if you're so inclined, follow along on Twitter at #NARNShow or "Like" our Facebook page, where we also conduct a "Live Stream" of the broadcast.

Until then.....

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Putting the "loser" in sore loser

Upon losing the MNGOP primary for US Senate, Adam Schwarze put out a rather passive-aggressive statement in the immediate aftermath.

pic.twitter.com/woaXiiYaaj

— Adam Schwarze (@AdamSchwarze) August 12, 2026

While there were no congratulations extended to winning candidate Michele Tafoya, Schwarze at least implied that Republicans need to unify when he emphasized the need for "a complete and total victory this November." So while his statement was left wanting, at least he didn't lash out given he was likely quite salty over his defeat. 

Unfortunately for Schwarze, his bitterness ultimately did get the best of him.

NEW: Republican Adam Schwarze appears to have deleted a tweet bashing Michele Tafoya after he lost to her by nearly 30 points in Tuesday's primary pic.twitter.com/e3e9ijzENx

— Alpha News (@AlphaNews) August 13, 2026

The insinuation of course is Tafoya is Option A in that scenario. At best, Schwarze is susceptible to out of context sound clips where Tafoya discusses these issues, and at worst he's a flat out liar. 

I had an opportunity to talk to Schwarze on last Sunday's broadcast. I appreciated his passion, even if he came off as kinda spazzy. And he spent more time denigrating Tafoya than touting his own background, so his animosity here is no surprise. 

You can glean a lot from a candidate in how they react to an election loss. While I am willing to extend Schwarze some grace in what was his first rodeo, his echoing Action 4 Larceny Liberty chanting points by suggesting there's no difference between a moderate Republican and the far, far, far left Peggy Flanagan will only harm any future endeavors into electoral politics. 

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The best possible outcomes

We're coming up on the 20th anniversary of the last time a Republican won a statewide election in Minnesota. That said, if the results from Tuesday's primary election are any indication, MNGOP voters are sick and tired of losing. 

The GOP nominated House Speaker Lisa Demuth for governor and former NFL sideline broadcaster Michele Tafoya for U.S. Senate, passing over firebrands in both races who electrified the party’s base but also carried serious political baggage.

The results were a relief for party leaders in Minnesota and Washington, D.C., as the GOP avoided polarizing candidates who might have fumbled a rare chance to beat Democrats in left-leaning Minnesota. In choosing Demuth, Republican voters went against the advice of President Donald Trump, who endorsed MyPillow founder Mike Lindell in July.

Even with Trump’s imprimatur, Republican insiders feared candidates such as Lindell would distract general election voters from fraud scandals in social services programs — the main line of attack against Democrats this year — as the party seeks to break a two-decade losing streak in statewide elections.

In the gubernatorial race, it remains a longshot that Demuth can topple Democrat nominee Amy Klobuchar, whom I believe is one of the top three most popular politicians in Minnesota history. But what Demuth's candidacy does ensure is the Minnesota Legislature remains in play for the GOP. Had Mike Lindell been the Republican candidate for gov, not only would he have lost (in the immortal words of his pal Trump) "bigly," he also would have been a drag on down ballot races for the party,  particularly House and Senate contests. As such, another DFL trifecta would commence, effectively finishing off any chance Minnesota has to remain a desirous place to live. But with Demuth having shown tremendous leadership chops as Speaker of the MN House the past two legislative sessions, that will be a great asset as the GOP needs a net gain of only one seat in each chamber of the Legislature in order to obtain complete control. 

Even though Democrat US Senate candidate (and current Lt Gov) Peggy Flanagan is a complete kook, Tafoya, despite putting forth eye-popping fundraising numbers not seen by a MNGOP candidate maybe ever, is also in an uphill battle. But her candidacy strengthens the Republicans' ability to maintain their majority in the Senate. Reason being is the Dems need a  net gain of four seats to take the majority. However, if they have to defend two seats (Minnesota and Michigan) which have been reliably blue for quite some time, that's less resources they'll have in attempts to seize Ohio, Iowa, Alaska and Maine (as of now, I believe Democrats already have North Carolina in the bag and are remarkably in a solid position to take Texas). Even before Tafoya and Flanagan won their respective primaries, a hypothetical matchup between the two showed basically a dead heat. 

While this cycle absolutely favors Democrats given it's the second midterm in a Donald Trump presidency, Minnesota may be somewhat of an outlier due to the rampant defrauding of taxpayer funds under the DFL's watch. Any Republican candidate has plausible deniability due to the fact they haven't held any meaningful statewide office since 2010. As such, you absolutely can't underestimate independent voters conveying some semblance of "Well, these Republicans certainly can't be any worse than what we've had." That isn't necessarily all that inspiring and not something that can be touted on GOP candidates' campaign literature. But it's a step in the right direction. 

On to November!

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Box Score of the Week

Cincinnati Reds at Philadelphia Phillies - July 5, 1989.

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With the score tied at 2 in the bottom of the 10th inning and Steve Jeltz standing on second base, the Phillies Lenny Dykstra singled to right field. Because the ball was hit pretty solidly, Jeltz held at third base. However, Reds RF Paul O'Neill bobbled the sharply hit ball, meaning Jeltz might have a chance to race home with the winning run. Thinking that error cost his team the game, O'Neill kicked the ball in frustration. However, he booted it just right, as it landed by first baseman Todd Benzinger, thus resulting in Jeltz having to hold at third base. 

The next batter was intentionally walked to load the bases for Von Hayes. But Reds catcher Jeff Reed was charged with a passed ball on the very first pitch to Hayes, resulting in Jeltz coming home to score the winning run. 

In the end, O'Neill's bizarre play merely delayed a heartbreaking Cincinnati defeat. 

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