Jess Lewis

“As an environmental and air pollution scientist who has served at the EPA, FAA, USAID, and WHO, scientific integrity guides every decision I make. Good policy must be rooted in peer-reviewed evidence and public health consensus, not political expediency or corporate lobbying. In the Minnesota Legislature, I will ensure independent researchers have a direct seat at the policymaking table.

When reviewing bills on climate, clean water, and the energy transition, I will partner with climate modelers, environmental engineers, and hydrologists to ensure statutory targets reflect real ecological data. On public health, I will consult epidemiologists and medical researchers to strengthen community health infrastructure and protect clinical autonomy from political interference. For emerging challenges like artificial intelligence and data center energy demands, I will look to computer scientists and systems engineers to evaluate grid impacts, data privacy, and ethical guardrails.

Having worked inside federal regulatory agencies, I know how corporate interests distort science. I will work with independent academic and state scientists to rigorously vet data, uncover conflicts of interest, and prevent biased legislation. Finally, I will collaborate with data scientists to embed evidence-based metrics into our laws, ensuring we continuously measure real-world outcomes for everyday Minnesotans.”

KEYWORDS: Evidence-based, integrity, accountability

“I strongly oppose sulfide-ore copper mining in the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness watershed.

The passage of H.J. Res. 140—overturning the 20-year mineral withdrawal via the Congressional Review Act—was a devastating rollback driven by corporate lobbying. Sulfide mining carries severe risks of acid mine drainage, threatening this low-buffering aquatic ecosystem, Voyageurs National Park, and downstream Canadian waters with irreversible contamination.

With federal protections abdicated, Minnesota must act as the ultimate backstop. In the Minnesota House, I will fight for robust state safeguards:

Pass the Boundary Waters Permanent Protection Act: Champion legislation (H.F. 309 / S.F. 875) to permanently ban sulfide-ore mining in the Rainy River drainage basin under state law.

Enforce Strict State Permitting: Demand the DNR and MPCA apply rigorous standards and deny permits whenever proposals risk toxic pollution or tailings failures. Federal leases are not a green light to dig.

Mandate “Polluter Pays” Protections: Require 100% upfront, bankruptcy-proof financial assurances for full lifecycle remediation so taxpayers never shoulder cleanup costs.

Respect Tribal Sovereignty: Ensure meaningful consultation and consent with Sovereign Tribal Nations to protect treaty-reserved rights, wild rice waters, and sacred resources.

We can advance a clean-energy economy without sacrificing our most pristine wilderness.”

KEYWORDS: Conservation, stewardship, transparency

“Clean drinking water is a fundamental right. As an environmental scientist, the fact that 21 Minnesota community water systems exceed federal PFAS standards is an urgent public health crisis. These bioaccumulative “forever chemicals” cause cancers, immune dysfunction, and developmental harm. No family should worry about whether their tap water is safe.

Addressing this contamination demands bold, science-based action:

Defend Amara’s Law: Protect the phase-out of non-essential PFAS by 2032. I will fight corporate lobbying to delay deadlines, add exemptions, or narrow chemical definitions. Prevention is our most cost-effective tool.

Enforce “Polluter Pays”: Remediating drinking water and wastewater will cost billions. I will champion legislation holding chemical manufacturers and polluters financially liable so working families and local ratepayers do not shoulder cleanup costs.

Fund Municipal Infrastructure: Secure state bonding and dedicated grants to help local utilities install advanced filtration—like granular activated carbon and reverse osmosis—without hiking utility bills.

Expand Testing & Set Strict Limits: Provide state-funded testing for private wells, increase landfill and biosolid monitoring, and direct the MPCA to establish enforceable industrial discharge caps that regulate PFAS as an entire chemical class.

I will always put public health over corporate polluters.”

KEYWORDS: Prevention, remediation, oversight

“Technological innovation must serve the public good, not corporate convenience. Hyperscale data centers demand massive amounts of electricity and water. We cannot let tech corporations rush developments that hike utility rates for working families, deplete local aquifers, or derail Minnesota’s statutory target of 100% clean electricity by 2040. We need proactive, science-based guardrails before shovels hit the ground.

First, we must safeguard everyday ratepayers and grid reliability through strict Public Utilities Commission standards, preventing utilities from shifting infrastructure and capacity costs onto residential and small-business customers. Operators must also achieve true clean energy additionality by bringing dedicated new wind, solar, and battery storage online to match their demand—rather than cannibalizing existing renewables or extending the lifespan of fossil-fuel plants.

Second, because cooling server banks consumes millions of gallons daily, comprehensive hydrologic reviews must be required before granting high-volume water permits. This ensures facilities adopt closed-loop cooling and wastewater-reuse technologies over evaporative systems. Finally, we must end lavish state tax giveaways for multi-billion-dollar tech giants and ban municipal non-disclosure agreements that conceal resource impacts from local communities. Through rigorous oversight, we can ensure technology serves Minnesota families rather than exploiting them.”

KEYWORDS: Regulation, caution, disclosure

“As an environmental scientist, I know scientific research is both an economic engine and the foundation of our state’s well-being. Minnesota’s $700+ million in NIH awards sustains thousands of good-paying jobs, supports local supply chains, and drives life-saving medical breakthroughs. With federal funding increasingly vulnerable to political disruption, Minnesota must take proactive steps to defend and expand research investment.

First, we should establish dedicated state matching funds—leveraging models like the Minnesota State Competitiveness Fund—to keep our universities hyper-competitive for NIH, NSF, and DOE grants that require institutional cost-sharing. Simultaneously, we must champion robust capital bonding and direct appropriations for the University of Minnesota and Minnesota State systems to modernize research facilities, reduce deferred maintenance, and attract top-tier scientific talent.

Crucially, I will fiercely protect public research institutions from ideological interference, ensuring researchers can freely investigate urgent topics like climate impacts, reproductive healthcare, and vaccine science. To translate these discoveries into shared prosperity, we must fund early-stage tech transfer, commercialization grants, and paid fellowships that keep young innovators working here in Minnesota. Finally, state leaders must actively partner with our congressional delegation to safeguard predictable federal research budgets, ensuring Minnesota remains a national leader in scientific innovation.”

KEYWORDS: Investment, innovation, competitiveness

“We must treat the overdose epidemic as an urgent public health crisis requiring evidence-based, compassionate solutions—not criminalization. While overall declines in fatal overdoses are encouraging, glaring racial disparities reveal systemic failures: Indigenous Minnesotans still die at up to fifteen times the rate of white residents. We cannot declare victory while our neighbors are left behind.

To dismantle these disparities, we must expand low-barrier harm reduction by broadly distributing naloxone, fentanyl test strips, and xylazine testing, while authorizing evidence-based overdose prevention centers. Crucially, a top-down model will not work. We must direct state grants and opioid settlement funds directly to Sovereign Tribal Nations and Black-led community organizations to support culturally grounded healing, peer networks, and traditional medicine.

Additionally, we must eliminate barriers to gold-standard medications like buprenorphine and methadone by removing prior-authorization hurdles, deploying mobile clinics to rural and underserved areas, and providing treatment inside correctional facilities. Because addiction is intertwined with poverty and trauma, lasting recovery requires investing in supportive Housing First initiatives and broader healthcare access. Ending failed carceral approaches in favor of pre-arrest diversion and trauma-informed care will save lives and ensure every Minnesota community receives the protection it deserves.”

KEYWORDS: Equity, prevention, dignity