Tracey Breazeale is a city council member running for the Minnesota House in District 45A
Ann Johnson Stewart is a civil engineer running for the Minnesota Senate in District 45.
Mound, MN – Tracey Breazeale and Ann Johnson Stewart met in Mound today to discuss water quality issues in Senate District 45. This important conversation comes in light of recent misinformation about water quality efforts in Minnesota being spread by an out-of-state Republican PAC.
Minnesota Democrats are actually leading the country in efforts to combat the harmful “forever-chemical” PFAS. In 2023, the DFL passed a ban on this harmful chemical in consumer products, along with allocating over $2 million from Legacy Fund resources to assess and develop responses to the effects of PFAS on our natural environment, wildlife, and drinking water.
“As a civil engineer, I know that access to clean drinking water in our communities shouldn’t be used as a political talking point,” said Ann Johnson Stewart, “Protecting Minnesota’s lakes, rivers, and drinking water supplies has been a key part of Democrats’ agenda, and we have consistently championed legislation that strengthens water quality protections statewide.”
Tracey Breazeale, running for the Minnesota House in District 45A, echoed Johnson Stewart’s statements, adding, “The notion that we are not standing up for clean water efforts is patently false. As a City Council member I have been dedicated to clean drinking water, and just last month broke ground on a new water treatment plant in my home community of Minnetonka Beach. I’m especially proud of this project because it contains a new state-of-the-art annex that deals specifically with treating water for PFAS.”
Johnson Stewart and Breazeale pointed out that Republicans, on multiple occasions, have attempted to roll back critical environmental regulations and obstruct clean water initiatives. When Republicans held a Senate Majority in 2022, they advocated for no policies related to combatting PFAS in Minnesota’s water supplies and included none of Governor Walz’s proposals to address water quality issues statewide.
Breazeale ended with this, “The record is clear – Minnesota Democrats are leading on the issue of clean water. Safe infrastructure protects all of us, and it’s time we start putting the needs of our communities above partisan politics.”
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