Molly Cook (born June 6, 1991) is an American

registered nurse A registered nurse (RN) is a healthcare professional who has graduated or successfully passed a nursing program from a recognized nursing school and met the requirements outlined by a country, state, province or similar government-authorized ...

and politician who is a member of the

Texas Senate The Texas Senate is the upper house of the Texas Legislature, with the Texas House of Representatives functioning as the lower house. Together, they form the State legislature (United States), state legislature of the state of Texas. The Senate ...

for the 15th district. A

Democrat Democrat, Democrats, or Democratic may refer to: Politics *A proponent of democracy, or democratic government; a form of government involving rule by the people. *A member of a Democratic Party: **Democratic Party (Cyprus) (DCY) **Democratic Part ...

, she was elected in a May special election to fill the vacancy from

John Whitmire John Harris Whitmire (born August 13, 1949) is an American attorney and politician who has served as the List of mayors of Houston, 63rd mayor of Houston, Texas, since 2024. Whitmire was previously a Democratic Party (United States), Democratic ...

resigning to become

Mayor In many countries, a mayor is the highest-ranking official in a Municipal corporation, municipal government such as that of a city or a town. Worldwide, there is a wide variance in local laws and customs regarding the powers and responsibilitie ...

Houston Houston ( ) is the List of cities in Texas by population, most populous city in the U.S. state of Texas and in the Southern United States. Located in Southeast Texas near Galveston Bay and the Gulf of Mexico, it is the county seat, seat of ...

. Cook is openly bisexual, and her win in the May special election was the first time an openly

LGBTQ+ LGBTQ people are individuals who are lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, or questioning. Many variants of the initialism are used; LGBTQIA+ people incorporates intersex, asexual, aromantic, agender, and other individuals. The group i ...

person was elected to the Texas Senate. She is also the first woman to represent the 15th district of the Texas Senate.

Early life and education

Cook was born in

Texas Texas ( , ; or ) is the most populous U.S. state, state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. It borders Louisiana to the east, Arkansas to the northeast, Oklahoma to the north, New Mexico to the we ...

. She holds a

Bachelor of Science in Nursing The Bachelor of Science in Nursing (BSN, BScN) also known in some countries as a Bachelor of Nursing (BN) or Bachelor of Science (BS) with a Major in Nursing is an academic degree in the science and principles of nursing, granted by an accredited ...

from the

University of Texas at Austin The University of Texas at Austin (UT Austin, UT, or Texas) is a public university, public research university in Austin, Texas, United States. Founded in 1883, it is the flagship institution of the University of Texas System. With 53,082 stud ...

as well as a

Master of Public Health The Master of Public Health (MPH), Master of Science in Public Health (MSPH), Master of Medical Science in Public Health (MMSPH) and the Doctor of Public Health (DrPH), International Masters for Health Leadership (IMHL) are interdisciplinary profes ...

and Master's of Science in Nursing from

Johns Hopkins University The Johns Hopkins University (often abbreviated as Johns Hopkins, Hopkins, or JHU) is a private university, private research university in Baltimore, Maryland, United States. Founded in 1876 based on the European research institution model, J ...

Political career

Cook first ran for the Texas Senate against Whitmire in the Democratic primary election in

2022 The year began with another wave in the COVID-19 pandemic, with SARS-CoV-2 Omicron variant, Omicron spreading rapidly and becoming the dominant variant of the SARS-CoV-2 virus worldwide. Tracking a decrease in cases and deaths, 2022 saw ...

, positioning herself as a more progressive option. She lost with 42% of the vote in the primary, Whitmire's closest margin since the early 1990s. Cook ran again in

2024 The year saw the list of ongoing armed conflicts, continuation of major armed conflicts, including the Russian invasion of Ukraine, the Myanmar civil war (2021–present), Myanmar civil war, the Sudanese civil war (2023–present), Sudane ...

, both in the general election for the term beginning January 14, 2025, and in the special election to fill the vacancy caused by Whitmire's election to serve as Mayor of Houston. On March 5, 2024, she advanced from the Democratic primary to a runoff with

State Representative A state legislature is a legislative branch or body of a political subdivision in a federal system. Two federations literally use the term "state legislature": * The legislative branches of each of the fifty state governments of the United St ...

Jarvis Johnson Jarvis Diallo Johnson (born September 27, 1971) is an American entrepreneur and politician who served in the Texas House of Representatives. A Democrat, he represented the 139th district from 2016 to 2025 and previously served on the Houston Cit ...

. She then won the May 4 special election to fill the remainder of Whitmire's unexpired term. On May 28, she went on to narrowly win the Democratic primary runoff to advance to the general election, where she defeated Republican candidate Joseph L. Trahan with 62% of the vote.

Electoral history

Personal life

Cook supports

abortion Abortion is the early termination of a pregnancy by removal or expulsion of an embryo or fetus. Abortions that occur without intervention are known as miscarriages or "spontaneous abortions", and occur in roughly 30–40% of all pregnan ...

, saying, “In 2014, I had an abortion. Abortion is a medical procedure and a personal choice. Our Legislature’s role is to make sure abortions are safe, accessible and stigma-free for every Texan". She is openly

bisexual Bisexuality is romantic attraction, sexual attraction, or sexual behavior toward both males and females. It may also be defined as the attraction to more than one gender, to people of both the same and different gender, or the attraction t ...

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Cook, Molly 1991 births 21st-century American women politicians American bisexual women American bisexual politicians American nurses American women nurses Bisexual women politicians Democratic Party Texas state senators Johns Hopkins School of Nursing alumni LGBTQ state legislators in Texas Living people Nurses from Texas People from Houston University of Texas at Austin alumni Women state legislators in Texas 21st-century nurses 21st-century American LGBTQ people Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health alumni 21st-century members of the Texas Legislature