Endorsed by AFL-CIO, Ann Johnson Stewart runs in DFL primary for Senate District 45 seat

August 12, 2024

MINNEAPOLIS — The Tuesday, August 13 primary includes a special primary election for Senate District 45 in the west Minneapolis suburbs.

Ann Johnson Stewart is running in a three-candidate DFL primary with the endorsement of the Minnesota AFL-CIO. Only the top vote-getter will advance to the November 5 general election.

Johnson Stewart’s other labor endorsements include: AFSCME Council 5, Carpenters Local 322, Minnesota Association of Professional Employees, North Central States Regional Council of Carpenters, and SEIU Minnesota State Council.

The seat became vacant when the incumbent, Dr. Kelly Morrison, resigned from the Minnesota Senate to run for the US House of Representatives.

Senate District 45 consists of communities surrounding Lake Minnetonka, including Deephaven, Excelsior, Greenwood, Long Lake, the north part of Minnetonka, Minnetonka Beach, Minnetrista, Mound, Orono, St Bonifacius, Shorewood, Spring Park, Tonka Bay, Wayzata, and Woodland.

Johnson Stewart represented part of this area before, when she won election as the DFL candidate in 2020 to represent the old Senate District 44. Redistricting led Johnson Stewart to leave the Senate after just two years.

I was raised in a union family… That's who I am and what I stand for.

During those two years in the Minnesota Senate, Johnson Stewart won a 95 percent voting score from the Minnesota AFL-CIO on working families issues.

“That’s who I am and what I stand for,” Johnson Stewart told the Minneapolis Labor Review. “I was raised in a union family. My mom and dad were teachers… That’s a family value I grew up with.”

A civil engineer by profession, “I see the value that unions bring to the construction industry,” Johnson Stewart said. For individual workers, she added, she sees the difference between union and non-union workers and how they experience their careers.

More than 20 years ago, Johnson Stewart started her own engineering firm, which grew to 26 employees. Her firm helped local and state government to build infrastructure across the state. Two years ago, she sold the company but continues to work there part-time. “I did that to focus on being in the Senate,” she said.

“I was the first civil engineer to serve in the Minnesota Senate,” Johnson Stewart said. “We need somebody who really understands infrastructure and the value of state spending on local projects.”

The bonding bill which the legislature is supposed to take up every two years is all about jobs, Johnson Stewart noted. “The bonus is you get a bridge.”

When Morrison resigned her Senate District 45 seat, jumping in the race “was a very easy decision,” Johnson Stewart said. “I really had a lot left I wasn’t able to accomplish. I was excited for the opportunity to go back.”

When Johnson Stewart served previously in the Senate,  she said, “it was really demonstrating the importance of having an infrastructure expert on the bonding and transportation committees.” She knew how to ask the right questions, she said. “Having somebody with that construction background was one of my biggest accomplishments.”

Johnson Stewart grew up in Wausau, Wisconsin. She earned her undergraduate degree at the University of Wisconsin Platteville and a masters degree in civil engineering at the University of Minnesota. She has lived in Minnetonka for 27 years.

Website: annjohnsonstewart.com