Lisa Demuth is in the arena—fighting for Minnesota.
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Political ads · 2026 · MN
Minnesota Governor 2026: the ads, and who's paying for them
Amy Klobuchar (Democratic-Farmer-Labor), Lisa Demuth (Republican) and Steven Young (Green) are the candidates for governor of Minnesota in the November 3, 2026 general election. Semblen has analyzed 97 ads in this race; 38 used at least one manipulation technique, most often loaded language and glittering generalities. Next date for voters: Registration deadline: Tue, Oct 13.
Amy Klobuchar (DFL), Lisa Demuth (REP), Steven Young (GRE). On the ballot as listed by Ballotpedia. 97 ads analyzed, 38 with at least one technique in the copy. Newest first. The paid-for-by line is the advertiser's own filing. Updated 2026-10-08.
How to vote in Minnesota
From Minnesota's official election office. Each line links to the official page it came from.
Next: Registration deadline: Tue, Oct 13 (in 5 days)
| Registration | Register by Tue, Oct 13 (registration closed during the 20 days before the election, so last day is the 21st day before; online, mail, or in person). Same-day registration: at your polling place with proof of residence (ID, approved document, or a registered voter vouching)Source: revisor.mn.gov ↗ |
|---|---|
| Early voting in person | Fri, Sep 18 to Mon, Nov 2 (in-person absentee during the 46 days before; ballot-into-tabulator early voting in the last 18 days (from Oct 16))Source: revisor.mn.gov ↗Source: revisor.mn.gov ↗ |
| By mail | Anyone can vote by mail; request a ballot by Mon, Nov 2 (any time up to the day before the election; mail time makes a late request risky); return it by Tue, Nov 3 (received by 8 p.m. Election Day; envelopes arriving later are marked late and not counted)Source: revisor.mn.gov ↗Source: revisor.mn.gov ↗Source: revisor.mn.gov ↗ |
| Election Day | Tue, Nov 3. Polls: 7 a.m. to 8 p.m.Source: revisor.mn.gov ↗ |
| ID at the polls | No ID needed if registered; voter signs the polling place roster. Election Day registrants need proof of residenceSource: revisor.mn.gov ↗ |
Checked October 6, 2026. Rules can change; confirm with the official site before you go.
Something wrong or out of date? Tell us
A person reads every report and fixes errors the same day.
Findings
As of 2026-10-08. Counts are of distinct ads; the same text run many times is one ad.
- Ads analyzed
- 97 (Meta 94, YouTube 3) · started running between 2026-06-28 and 2026-10-08
- With at least one technique
- 38 of 97 (39%)
- Most common techniques
- Loaded Language · 21 adsGlittering Generalities · 17 adsAppeal to Prejudice · 13 ads
- Meta
- 38 of 94 (40%) flagged · Loaded Language (21), Glittering Generalities (17), Appeal to Prejudice (13)
- YouTube
- 0 of 3 flagged
- Reported Meta spend
- $173,000–226,752 on all ads, $108,700–138,476 on flagged ads · Meta reports ranges; these are the sums of their ends
- Example
- “accountability for fraud” — Loaded Language, paid for by MN Restore Sanity PAC · the flagged ad with the highest reported spend that shows the most common technique
Embed this race on your site
A small box with these findings and the newest ads, updated as new ads are analyzed. Free for newsrooms, blogs and campaigns alike; it links back here.
Follow the Minnesota Governor race
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Semblen LLC · 5900 Balcones Drive STE 100, Austin, TX 78731
Who is running these ads
By sponsor (8)
| Paid for by | Ads | With at least one technique | Most common |
|---|---|---|---|
| Minnesotans for Klobuchar | 54 | 14 of 54 (26%) | Loaded Language (9), Appeal to Prejudice (8), Glittering Generalities (7) |
| MN Restore Sanity PAC | 22 | 12 of 22 (55%) | Loaded Language (10), Glittering Generalities (6), Appeal to Prejudice (4) |
| Laborers’ District Council of Minnesota and North Dakota Political Fund | 10 | 9 of 10 (90%) | Plain Folks Appeal (5), Glittering Generalities (4) |
| Alliance for a Better Minnesota State PAC | 3 | 0 of 3 | |
| Amy Klobuchar | 3 | 0 of 3 | |
| Minnesota Democratic-Farmer-Labor Party | 2 | 2 of 2 | Loaded Language (2), Card Stacking (1) |
| Our America | 2 | 1 of 2 | Appeal to Prejudice (1), Black-and-White Fallacy (1), Name Calling (1) |
| Minnesota Public Radio | 1 | 0 of 1 |
Decide what counts
Not everyone would call every technique manipulation. Untick the ones you'd call ordinary persuasion and the count updates.
39% of the 97 ads here use at least one of the techniques ticked below (38 ads).
- Words picked for the feeling, not the facts. More on loaded language, with examples →
- Feel-good words with no concrete meaning. More on glittering generalities, with examples →
- Playing on dislike of a group. More on appeal to prejudice, with examples →
- A label in place of an argument. More on name calling, with examples →
- Only two choices when there are more. More on black-and-white fallacy, with examples →
- Blowing something up past what is true. More on exaggeration/hyperbole, with examples →
- Pressure to act before you think. More on false urgency, with examples →
- "i'm just like you" in place of a record.
- "everyone's doing it" in place of a reason. More on bandwagon appeal, with examples →
- Only the facts that help one side. More on card stacking, with examples →
- Making you afraid so you stop weighing the facts. More on appeal to fear, with examples →
- Hinting at a hidden plot without evidence. More on conspiracy appeal, with examples →
- Blaming one group for a complex problem. More on scapegoating, with examples →
Leaving out the softer ones (loaded language, glittering generalities, slogans, exaggeration, repetition): 28% of ads.
The words doing the work
The words that show up most in phrases our model flagged as loaded language or name calling in this race's ads, by number of ads.
- buy in 6 ads · e.g. “buy our governor's seat”, “buy our governor's race”
- donald trump in 4 ads · e.g. “rubber stamp of Donald Trump”, “rubber stamp for Donald Trump”
- fraud in 4 ads · e.g. “the fraud”, “Amy Klobuchar didn't stop the fraud”
- governor' in 4 ads · e.g. “buy our governor's seat”, “buy our governor's race”
- rubber stamp in 4 ads · e.g. “rubber stamp of this administration”, “nothing but a rubber stamp of this administration”
- election in 3 ads · e.g. “spread lies about our elections”, “buy our election”
- fraudster in 3 ads · e.g. “not fraudsters”, “Fraudsters have had their day”
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Money in this race
Candidates for governor report their fundraising to Minnesota's state campaign-finance office, not the FEC. This page doesn't cover those reports yet, so it shows no money figures.
The ads
97 ads, newest first. Video transcripts are shown as the model read them, without caption cues like [music].
Showing the 2 ads paid for by Our America. Show all 97 ads
As governor, Lisa Demuth will stand up for everyday Minnesotans—not DC insiders. Stand with Lisa Demuth. Sign our pledge today.
Appeal to Prejudice: The phrase 'everyday Minnesotans' invokes an in-group identity contrasted against an out-group ('DC insiders'), implying ordinary people are virtuous while Washington elites are not — for example: 'everyday Minnesotans—not DC insiders'
Black-and-White Fallacy: The sentence presents a binary choice between representing 'everyday Minnesotans' or 'DC insiders,' implying no middle ground exists — for example: 'stand up for everyday Minnesotans—not DC insiders'
Name Calling: The label 'DC insiders' is used as a derogatory term to discredit a vague group without addressing any specific arguments or policies — for example: 'not DC insiders'
Appeal to Prejudice
Black-and-White Fallacy
Name Calling
Looks up the ad's factual claims in fact-checkers, primary sources and wire reporting. Takes up to a minute.
Follow the Minnesota Governor race
An email when new ads come in from either side or the outside groups: the techniques, the words doing the work, and who paid. And each debate's analysis the morning after. One-click unsubscribe.
Semblen LLC · 5900 Balcones Drive STE 100, Austin, TX 78731
What this page is
- An ad is on this page because its own "Paid for by" line is a campaign in this race; or it ran mostly in MN and names a nominee for governor — unless its sponsor is a campaign for some other office (a U.S. Senate or House campaign included), or it also names MN's Senate nominees, in which case it is on the Senate race's page. Ads from outside groups appear alongside the campaigns' own.
- The candidates are the ones certified for the November ballot, from the source linked at the top. Governors are state offices, so there are no FEC filings behind this page: no money figures, and outside groups are placed on a side only when they are a campaign or a party committee.
- Campaigns run one text as many separate ads. Identical text from the same sponsor is one card here, marked with its number of variants.
- A technique is a specific manipulative move in the wording, found by our model and explained in one line. It is not a claim that the ad is false.
- Claims are checked when a reader asks: press "Check this ad's claims" on a card. The check runs once and its result is shown to everyone afterwards. The ten ads with the most money behind them in each race are checked ahead of time.
- Claim verdicts say what the cited sources say. A verdict that an ad is wrong or misleading is shown only when it cites an established fact-checker or an institutional record — Congress, a federal agency, a court — and its confidence is not low; a weaker one is not shown at all. Each verdict shows what it rests on and how confident it is. If we got one wrong, press Disagree: a verdict that readers dispute and no one defends comes down.
- Video ads come from the campaigns' own YouTube channels; the transcript is analyzed. Meta ads are analyzed on their text; their video and images are not, yet.