Lisa Demuth is an American politician born on February 10, 1967, in Paynesville, Minnesota. A biracial small-business owner turned school-board member turned state lawmaker, she made history in 2025 as the first Black person and first female Republican ever elected Speaker of the Minnesota House. In 2026, she is running for Governor of Minnesota.
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Lisa Demuth – Bio/Wiki
| Full Name | Lisa Demuth |
| Date of Birth | February 10, 1967 |
| Age | 59 Years |
| Profession | Politician, Small Business Owner |
| Birth Place | Paynesville, Minnesota |
| Hometown | Cold Spring, Minnesota |
| Religion | Assemblies of God (Christian) |
| Nationality | American |
| Ethnicity | Biracial (Black and White) |
Early Life
Lisa grew up in Paynesville, a small city in Stearns County in rural Central Minnesota. Her father is Black and her mother is White, making her one of the few biracial children in that community at the time. She has spoken publicly about experiencing racial prejudice during her childhood there.
She attended Bloomington Kennedy High School and graduated in 1985. After that, she moved into family life and business rather than a four-year college. She and her husband Nick built a commercial real estate management company in Central Minnesota that the two still operate today.
Her move into public life came through tragedy. On September 24, 2003, a student opened fire at ROCORI High School in Cold Spring. Two students were killed. All four of Demuth’s children were on campus that day.
In 2007, she launched a write-in campaign for the ROCORI School District Board. She won. That win launched an eleven-year run on the board and set everything else in motion.
Political Career
Demuth left the school board in 2018 and ran for District 13A in the Minnesota House of Representatives. She won again. It was the start of four consecutive House victories, and she has never lost a race across seven total contests — four for the legislature, three for the school board.
By 2022, colleagues elected her Minority Leader of the House Republican Caucus. She was the first woman and the first person of color to lead Minnesota House Republicans.
Two years later, the November 2024 elections produced a 67-67 tie in the House and put Minnesota in the middle of a historic standoff. On opening day in January 2025, House Democrats boycotted the chamber over a disputed seat in Roseville. Republicans proceeded with 67 members, declared a quorum, and elected Demuth Speaker. Democrats called the vote unlawful. The Minnesota Supreme Court agreed, ruled no quorum was present, and voided the action.
A negotiated power-sharing deal followed on February 6, 2025. Demuth was officially elected the 62nd Speaker of the Minnesota House and became the first Black person and first female Republican to hold that office in state history.
As Speaker
The tied house meant Demuth had to work across the aisle or produce nothing. She formed a working relationship with Democratic Speaker Melissa Hortman, and the two led the chamber together through the 2025 session. It was hard going at times, but they got the work done.
Hortman was assassinated in late 2025. Demuth called the loss something Minnesota would feel for a lifetime.
The session delivered real results. The House cut state spending by $5 billion. Whistleblower protections were expanded and two new staff members were added to the Office of Legislative Auditor.
Demuth also pushed hard for a full Office of Inspector General bill to address the large-scale state grant fraud that had drawn national attention. But the bill failed on the floor on a partisan vote when it came over from the Senate.
She went into her second session as Speaker in 2026 expecting the tied house to continue, planning to keep the same co-governing model in place.
2026 Governor’s Race
Demuth announced her run for Governor alongside running mate Ryan Wilson, a former state auditor candidate who came within 8,000 votes in 2022 but has never held elected office. She raised more than $1.1 million for the campaign and carried more cash on hand going into primary day than all other candidates combined.
At the May 30, 2026 state Republican convention, candidate Kendall Qualls won the party endorsement. Demuth had previously said she would abide by the result. Allegations of voting irregularities emerged during the convention’s balloting, and Minnesota Republican Party Chair Alex Plechash clarified that candidates were not bound by the pledge. She pressed forward to the August 11 primary.
Her campaign centered on anti-fraud measures, shrinking state government, and winning the general election against front-runner Amy Klobuchar. She argued that with seven consecutive wins behind her, she was the only Republican in the race who had proven she could raise money and close on election day.
When voters pushed back on her time in office, she had a ready answer. If your air conditioner breaks on a 90-degree summer day, she said, you call someone who has fixed one before — not someone who has never tried.
An outside group also ran independent ads casting her as a comic-book superhero. She didn’t commission them and heard about it when supporters started sending clips to her phone. Her seven grandkids were pleased to finally have it confirmed.
Faith and Personal Life
Demuth attends an Assemblies of God church and links her legislative style directly to her faith. She describes her approach as calm and conversational, even in the most heated floor debates. During the 2025 session, when tensions ran high on both sides, she held the chamber to a standard of institutional respect while still letting every voice be heard.
She and Nick Demuth have four children and seven grandchildren. The family lives in Cold Spring, in the same Central Minnesota community they have been part of for decades.
Controversies
The biggest controversy came in January 2025. When Republicans elected Demuth Speaker without a Democratic quorum, Democrats called it an unlawful act and asked the courts to intervene. The Minnesota Supreme Court sided with them. She held the Speakership only after a negotiated deal. She has not described the sequence as a mistake, pointing to the convention irregularities she says forced the caucus to act.
She also faced pressure in 2026 from parents of a child killed in the Annunciation school shooting. They urged her to bring a gun bill from the Senate to the House floor. She didn’t, arguing instead for stronger criminal penalties on firearm offenses and expanded mental health services across the state.
A Hugo woman pleaded guilty to making threatening voicemails aimed at Demuth during the heat of the governor’s campaign.
Her daughter Shelisa drew brief attention by posting a public Facebook message that pushed back on her mother’s position regarding protests against federal immigration enforcement. Demuth did not comment on it publicly.
