Paul Cook (politician)

Paul Cook ( born March 3, 1943 in Meriden, Connecticut ) is an American politician. Since 2013 he represents the state of California in the U.S. House of Representatives.

Career

Paul Cook attended Southern Connecticut State University in New Haven, where he was trained as a teacher until 1966. In the same year he joined the United States Marine Corps, where he served 1966-1992. He rose to the colonel. For his military services during this time he was awarded the Bronze Star and the Purple Heart.

After his military service, he moved permanently to California. There he studied until 1996 at the California State University, San Bernardino and then to 2000 at the University of California, Riverside political science. In the years 1993 and 1994, Cook was head of the Chamber of Commerce of Yucca Valley; 1998 to 2002 he taught at Copper Mountain College. Since 2002, he lectured at the University of California, Riverside, about political violence and terrorism. Politically, he joined the Republican Party. From 1998 to 2006 he sat in the council of Yucca Valley. Later he became mayor. Between 2006 and 2012 he was a deputy in the California State Assembly. He belonged to a total of ten committees.

In the congressional elections of 2012, Cook was in the eighth constituency of California in the U.S. House of Representatives in Washington DC chosen, where he succeeds Nancy Pelosi took on 3 January 2013, moved to the twelfth district. In the runoff election against Gregg Imus, also Republicans, it reached 58 percent of the vote. Prior to the restructuring of the congressional districts that no longer nominee Jerry Lewis had represented this area.