Rebecca Cooke (politician)

Rebecca Cooke was born on December 21, 1987,^[1] in Eau Claire, Wisconsin,^[2] the youngest of three children in a dairy farming family.^[3][4] Descended from prominent abolitionist Chauncey H. Cooke,^[4] Cooke's family members served in the American Civil War, World War I, World War II, and the Korean War.^[2]

Cooke attended 4-H youth programs as a child,^[5] and was the president of her local 4-H club.^[6] While attending North High School,^[7] she began working as a waitress.^[8] After graduating high school, she moved to Minnesota to study at the University of St. Thomas, where she attained a Bachelor of Arts degree.^[9]

After graduating, Cooke went on to work as a fundraiser for national campaigns. From 2012, she served as finance director for four congressional campaigns in four U.S. states.^[10][11] In 2015,^[10] she moved back to Eau Claire, where she opened a home goods store, Red's Mercantile,^[12] and began to work as a political consultant. Between 2015 and 2021, Cooke's consulting firm advised eight political campaigns.^[10][11] After her 2022 congressional run, Cooke closed her home goods store.^[13][14]

In 2016, Cooke founded a nonprofit to support female business owners with grants.^[10] In January 2019, Wisconsin governor Tony Evers appointed her to the Wisconsin Economic Development Corporation's board of directors,^[15][12] where she co-chaired the Entrepreneurship & Innovation Committee and later served as board secretary.^[2][16] Cooke resigned from the board in November 2021, and was succeeded by businessman Jack Salzwedel.^[17][18]

Cooke identifies as a centrist,^[34] and has repeatedly confirmed she plans to caucus with the Blue Dogs if elected.^[25][26] She described herself to NBC News as "a Blue Dog and a new Dem", but "very progressive where it counts".^[35] Cooke has criticized the national Democratic Party's public image,^[20] describing their branding as "far left" and out-of-touch with the majority of Americans.^[20] She has called congressional Democrats "too far left", and congressional Republicans "too far right".^[21]

Cooke is pro-choice,^[21] and has defended abortion as a decision that should be "free from political or governmental interference".^[36] She supports expanding Medicare to cover dental, hearing, and vision.^[34] She has backed stronger antitrust laws,^[21] and supports increasing the minimum wage to US$15.^[36]

A supporter of universal background checks,^[36] Cooke has called for stronger enforcement of red flag laws.^[36] She has defended the right to purchase and own a gun and supports the Second Amendment.^[36][37]

Cooke supported the 2026 United States intervention in Venezuela and the ousting of President Nicolás Maduro, though she criticized the Trump administration's lack of a "concrete plan for stability" in the country.^[38] She has opposed foreign ownership of American farmland,^[39][40] and criticized tariffs imposed by the Trump administration for causing family farm bankruptcies.^[41]

Cooke lives in Eau Claire,^[10] and is a senior visiting fellow at Third Way, a centrist think tank.^[16] She is a personal friend of U.S. representative Marie Gluesenkamp Perez, the co-chair of the Blue Dog Coalition.^[21] Cooke is Protestant.^[42]