Rebecca McDowell "Bekki" Cook (July 18, 1950) is an American

politician A politician is a person active in party politics, or a person holding or seeking an elected office in government. Politicians propose, support, reject and create laws that govern the land and by an extension of its people. Broadly speaking, a ...

from

Missouri Missouri is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. Ranking List of U.S. states and territories by area, 21st in land area, it is bordered by eight states (tied for the most with Tennessee ...

, United States. She served as the 36th

Missouri Secretary of State The people below have served as the Secretary of State of the U.S. state of Missouri. List Gallery File:Warren E. Hearnes.jpg, Warren E. Hearnes File:James C. Kirkpatrick.jpg, James C. Kirkpatrick File:Rep Roy Blunt.jpg, Roy Blunt File:Matt ...

from December 1994 to January 2001. Cook was raised in

Jackson, Missouri Jackson is a city in and the county seat of Cape Girardeau County, Missouri, United States. It is a principal city of the Cape Girardeau–Jackson, MO- IL Metropolitan Statistical Area. The population of Jackson was 15,481 at the 2020 census ...

, and attended public schools. She graduated from the

University of Missouri The University of Missouri (Mizzou, MU, or Missouri) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Columbia, Missouri. It is Missouri's largest university and the flagship of the four-campus Universit ...

in 1972 with a degree in

political science Political science is the scientific study of politics. It is a social science dealing with systems of governance and power, and the analysis of political activities, political thought, political behavior, and associated constitutions and la ...

. She received her J.D. degree from the University of Missouri in 1975 and practiced law in

Cape Girardeau Cape Girardeau ( , french: Cap-Girardeau ; colloquially referred to as "Cape") is a city in Cape Girardeau and Scott Counties in the U.S. state of Missouri. At the 2020 census, the population was 39,540. The city is one of two principal citie ...

. While working in private law practice, Cook was appointed to the

Missouri State Board of Education Missouri State Board of Education (MSBE) is Missouri's board of education, headquartered in Jefferson City.John Ashcroft John David Ashcroft (born May 9, 1942) is an American lawyer, lobbyist and former politician who served as the 79th U.S. Attorney General in the George W. Bush administration from 2001 to 2005. A former U.S. Senator from Missouri and the 50th ...

. She was subsequently re-appointed by Governor

Mel Carnahan Melvin Eugene Carnahan (February 11, 1934 – October 16, 2000) was an American lawyer and politician who served as the 51st Governor of Missouri from 1993 until his death in a plane crash in 2000. A Democrat, he was elected posthumously to the ...

. In December 1994, Carnahan appointed Cook as Missouri's Secretary of State. Cook succeeded

Judi Moriarty Judith K. Moriarty (born February 2, 1942) is an American politician from Missouri, first with the Democratic Party, switching to the Libertarian Party in 2005. She was the first woman to serve as Missouri Secretary of State. Early life Moriarty ...

who had been impeached and removed from office following a scandal. In 1996, Cook was elected to a full term as Secretary of State. She chose not to seek re-election in 2000. In 2004, Cook ran for Lieutenant Governor of Missouri and won a contested primary to become the Democratic nominee. However, she was defeated by less than 1% of the vote in the general election by Republican

Peter Kinder Peter Dickson Kinder (born May 12, 1954) is an American lawyer and politician who served as the 46th Lieutenant Governor of Missouri from 2005 to 2017. He was appointed as a co-chairman of the Delta Regional Authority in August 2017, serving in ...

who is also from

Cape Girardeau County, Missouri Cape Girardeau County is located in the southeastern part of the U.S. state of Missouri; its eastern border is formed by the Mississippi River. At the 2020 census, the population was 81,710. The county seat is Jackson, the first city in the US ...

Personal life

Cook is married to Cape Girardeau attorney John Larkin Cook. They have two children.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Cook, Bekki 1950 births Living people Secretaries of State of Missouri School board members in Missouri People from Cape Girardeau County, Missouri University of Missouri alumni Women in Missouri politics Missouri Democrats 20th-century American politicians 21st-century American politicians Candidates in the 2004 United States elections 21st-century American women politicians 20th-century American women politicians