He also received a Master of Divinity in ethics from the Central Baptist Theological Seminary of Minneapolis.
He then ran as an Independent, finishing third in the general election behind winner Peppin and Democrat Caroll Holmstrom.
In 2003, Keith Ellison and a group of fellow DFLers of the Minnesota House of Representatives filed an ethics complaint against Lindner for a speech he made denying that homosexuals were targeted by the Nazis and slain in the Holocaust.
He made several comments on the floor of the House while he introduced a bill that would "repeal the state's pro-gay human rights amendment and remove sexual orientation from its hate-crimes law.
He lost parts of two fingers in a work-related accident at Schweigert Foods Company.