Paul Cook

Paul Cook
Current candidacy
Running for U.S. House, California, District 8
Date of primary	June 5, 2012
General election	November 6, 2012
Current office
California State Assembly District 65
In office
2006-Present
Term ends
December 6, 2012
Years in position	7
Party	Republican
Compensation
Base salary	$95,290.56 per year
Per diem	$141.86 per day
Elections and appointments
Last election	November 2, 2010
First elected	November 2006
Next election	November 6, 2012
Term limits	3 terms (6 years)
Education
Bachelor's	Southern Connecticut State University
Master's	University of California, Riverside; California State University, San Bernardino
Military service
Service/branch	U.S. Marines
Years of service	26 years
Personal
Profession	Instructor
Religion	Catholic
Websites
Office website
Campaign website

Paul Cook is a Republican member of the California State Assembly. He has represented the 65th District since 2006. He has served as Mayor of Yucca Valley and on the Yucca Valley City Council.

Cook has worked as an instructor at Copper Mountain College and the University of California, Riverside.

He is a member of the American Legion, Disabled American Veterans, Red Cross, Saint Mary's Catholic Church, United Way, Veterans of Foreign Wars, and former Executive Director of the Yucca Valley Chamber of Commerce.

Cook will be ineligible to run for re-election to the California State Assembly in 2012 due to term limits.

Issues

Political Courage test

Cook did not provide answers to the California State Legislative Election 2008 Political Courage Test. The test provides voters with how a candidate would vote on the issues if elected.

Legislative scorecard

Capitol Weekly, California's major weekly periodical covering the state legislature, publishes an annual legislative scorecard to pin down the political or ideological leanings of every member of the legislature based on how they voted on an assortment of bills in the most recent legislative session. The 2009 scores were based on votes on 19 bills, but did not include how legislators voted on the Proposition 1A (2009). On the scorecard, "100" is a perfect liberal score and "0" is a perfect conservative score. ,

On the 2009 Capitol Weekly legislative scorecard, Cook ranked as a 9.

Sponsored legislation

Cook's sponsored legislation includes:

• AB 307 - Sex offenders: working with minors
• AB 588 - Local government finance
• AB 1476 - School facilities: repayment of penalties

For details and a full listing of sponsored bills, see the House site.

Committee assignments

2011-2012

In the 2011-2012 legislative session, Cook has been appointed to these committees:

• Accountability and Administrative Review Committee, California General Assembly
• Emergency Management Committee, California Legislature
• Governmental Organization Committee, California General Assembly
• Master Plan for Higher Education
• Sunset Review Committee, California Legislature
• Veterans Affairs Committee, California General Assembly, Chair

2009-2010

In the 2009-2010 legislative session, Cook served on these committees:

• Budget Committee, California General Assembly
• Governmental Organization Committee, California General Assembly
• Higher Education Committee, California General Assembly
• Select Committee on Inland Empire Transportation Issues
• Select Committee on Preservation of California's Entertainment Industry
• Veterans Affairs Committee, California General Assembly (Vice Chair)

Elections

2012

Cook was ineligible to run for re-election to the California State Assembly due to term limits. He is instead running for election to California's 8th congressional district. He is running against John Pinkerton (D), Dennis Albertsen (R), Jackie Conaway (D), George Craig (R), Gregg Imus (R), Bill Jensen (R), Phil Liberatore (R), Ryan McEachron (R), Brad Mitzelfelt (R), Joseph Napolitano (R), Angela Valles (R), and Anthony Adams (Ind) in the June 5, 2012, open primary.

2010

See also: California State Assembly elections, 2010

Cook won re-election to the 65th District Seat in 2010. He had no opposition in the June 8 primary. He defeated Democrat Carl Wood in the November 2 general election.

California State Assembly, District 65 General Election (2010)
Candidates		Votes
Paul Cook (R)		78,475
Carl Wood (D)		57,212

2008

In 2008 Cook was re-elected to the California State Assembly District 65. Cook (R) finished with 93,566 votes while his opponent Carl Wood (D) finished with 82,305 votes.

California State Assembly District 65
Candidates		Votes
Paul Cook (R)		93,566
Carl Wood (D)		82,305

Campaign donors

2010

In 2010, Cook raised $596,328 in contributions.

His four largest contributors were:

Donor	Amount
Republican Party Of Riverside County	$10,000
Sterling BMW	$7,800
Riverside Sheriffs Association	$7,800
Chevron Corp	$7,800

2008

Major donors to Cook's campaign in 2008 were:

Contributor	2008 total
CA Correctional Peace Officers Assoc	$7,200
CA Assoc of Health Underwriters	$7,200
Wayne Minor Motor Sports	$7,200
San Manuel Band of Mission Indians	$7,200
Agua Caliente Band of Cahuilla Indians	$7,200

2006

In 2006, Cook ran a hard-fought primary battle against Jim Ayers. Ayres spent $591,675 in his unsuccessful primary campaign that is the soursce of some of the allegations. In 2009, federal prosecutors indicted Ayers and others for what they say were financial irregularities related to campaign contributions in this primary election.

Recent news

This section displays the most recent stories in a google news search for the term Paul + Cook + California + Legislature

All stories may not be relevant to this legislator due to the nature of the search engine.

Paul Cook News Feed

• Should state help feds clear backlog of veterans' claims? - Sacramento Bee
• North Carolina's state education boss wants to exempt teachers from income tax - Daily Caller
• Gorell feels positive after meeting with GOP leaders on immigration reform - Ventura County Star
• Recall of Colorado gun controller gets enough signatures - Daily Caller
• Give me your spouse beaters ?. - Daily Caller
• Bachmann: Boehner will use 'loophole' to pass immigration in the House - Daily Caller
• Brzezinski: 'I'm probably guilty' of hypocrisy on Bush-Cheney vs. Obama NSA ... - Daily Caller
• Lunch, with a side of politics: Legislators dish on where, how they break for ... - Hilton Head Island Packet
• McConnell campaign, tea party activist publicly spar over primary challenge - Daily Caller
• Which bathroom should transgendered students use? - Daily Caller

Personal

Cook is married to Jeanne.

External links

Suggest a link

• Paul Cook's personal website
• Official website of Paul Cook
• Legislative profile of Paul Cook on Project Vote Smart
• Biographical profile of Paul Cook on Project Vote Smart
• Campaign contributions: 2010, 2008, 2006
• Paul Cook on Facebook
• Campaign website 2012

References

Political offices
Preceded by -	California State Assembly District 65 2006–present	Succeeded by NA