Deborah Ann "Debbie" Cook (born January 22, 1954) is an American politician and lawyer from

California California is a state in the Western United States, located along the Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the most populous U.S. state and the 3rd largest by area. It is also the m ...

. She is the former mayor of Huntington Beach, California, and was the Democratic candidate for

California's 46th congressional district California's 46th congressional district is a congressional district in the U.S. state of California. It has been represented by Democrat Lou Correa since 2017, when he succeeded Loretta Sanchez, who retired to run for the U.S. Senate. Th ...

in 2008. Cook was elected to the Huntington Beach City Council in 2000 and re-elected in 2004. She is president of the board of directors of the

Post Carbon Institute Post Carbon Institute (PCI) is a think tank which provides information and analysis on climate change, energy scarcity, and other issues related to sustainability and long term community resilience. Its Fellows specialize in various fields relate ...

Early life

On January 22, 1954, Cook was born in Corpus Christi, Texas. Cook's father is a military person with the

United States Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the maritime service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. It is the largest and most powerful navy in the world, with the estimated tonnage ...

, who served in both World War II and the Korean War. Cook's grandfather was an Episcopal minister. Cook was baptized into the Episcopal Church by her grandfather. After Cook's father's retired from the Navy, the family moved to

Cincinnati, Ohio Cincinnati ( ) is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Hamilton County. Settled in 1788, the city is located at the northern side of the confluence of the Licking and Ohio rivers, the latter of which marks the state line wi ...

. In 1966, Cook and her family moved to California. Cook attended

Corona del Mar High School Corona del Mar High School (CdM) is a public school located in the Eastbluff neighborhood of Newport Beach, California, and belongs to the Newport-Mesa Unified School District. It is a combination of a middle school (7th and 8th grades) and a ...

in Newport Beach, California. While attending high school, Cook became a runner-up in the Miss Newport Beach contest, earned a student pilot's license, completed an Outward Bound course and successfully climbed Mount Whitney.

Education

Cook graduated from California State University, Long Beach where she studied earth science. Cook also has a J.D from

Western State University College of Law Western State College of Law at Westcliff University is a private, for-profit law school in Irvine, California. It offers full and part-time programs and is approved by the American Bar Association. Western State pays a fee to receive servi ...

. In May 2005, Cook received an honorary Associate of Arts degree from Orange Coast College.

Career

Cook coached and taught volleyball in Huntington Beach, and served as

Parent Teacher Association A parent is a caregiver of the offspring in their own species. In humans, a parent is the caretaker of a child (where "child" refers to offspring, not necessarily age). A ''biological parent'' is a person whose gamete resulted in a child, a male t ...

president for Vista View School in Fountain Valley. In 1978 Debbie and John purchased a small office-equipment business which they ran for 14 years. During those years Cook obtained a

patent A patent is a type of intellectual property that gives its owner the legal right to exclude others from making, using, or selling an invention for a limited period of time in exchange for publishing an enabling disclosure of the invention."A ...

for the business's shelving system. As a political novice in 1990, Cook was the main force behind the Huntington Beach city voter initiative Measure C, a pro-environment City Charter amendment that forbids sale or lease of park or beach land without a citywide vote. Despite opposition by the city council majority being against the initiative, voters approved it. In December 1994, Cook was admitted to the California bar. Cook served as attorney for the Bolsa Chica Land Trust, and took part in the efforts to preserve the Bolsa Chica Wetlands from development. In 2000, Cook became a member of the city council for Huntington Beach, California. In 2001 Cook became the mayor of Huntington Beach, California. Cook was reelected in 2004. The office of the Mayor of Huntington Beach is a rotating position within the city council. She also has served as President of the Orange County Division of the

League of California Cities The League of California Cities is an association of cities within the state of California, founded in 1898. Most of the state's 482 cities are represented in the league. The League publishes ''Western City'', a monthly magazine, and holds an annu ...

, Chair of the League of California Cities Administrative Policy Committee and Chair of the Orange County Parks Commission. She helped lead the fight to prevent the Orange County Sanitation District from massive dumping of partially treated wastewater into the ocean. In 2007, Huntington Beach joined the U.S. Mayor's Agreement on Global Warming.cl

2008 campaign for Congress

On February 2, 2008, Debbie Cook announced her Democratic candidacy for

against incumbent Republican

Dana Rohrabacher Dana Tyrone Rohrabacher (; born June 21, 1947) is a former American politician who served in the U.S. House of Representatives from 1989 to 2019. A Republican, he represented for the last three terms of his House tenure. Rohrabacher ran for r ...

. Cook defeated Huntington Beach business owner Dan Kalmick in the June 3, 2008 primary for the Democratic nomination. The Treasurer of the California Republican Party filed suit against Cook and the Orange County Registrar regarding Cook's ballot designation. The suit has been seen as frivolous and politically motivated. It was dismissed by the California Court of Appeals. According to FEC reports, Cook outraised Rohrabacher in the first and second quarters of 2008, although Rohrabacher in total had raised $323,966 compared to Cook's $157,269 by the end of the second quarter 2008. In the end, Cook failed to oust the incumbent, winning only 42.4% of the vote to Rohrabacher's 53.2%.

Personal life

On 1975, Cook married John Fisher. They have one son. In 1986, Cook and her family moved to Huntington Beach, California.

References

External links

* OC Voice Interview with Debbie Cook (Peak Oi

* SCAG Energy Summit: Debbie Coo

Congress candidate sued for using "Mayor" on ballot.
{{DEFAULTSORT:Cook, Debbie 1954 births Living people California State University, Long Beach alumni California Democrats Mayors of Huntington Beach, California California lawyers People from Westminster, California Western State University College of Law alumni American women lawyers 21st-century American women