Voters have made history by electing emergency room nurse and community organizer Molly Cook as Texas’s first out LGBTQ+ state senator. The Democrat’s victory was the result of a special election to fill the seat of John Whitmire (D), who is now Houston’s mayor.
Cook, who is bisexual, will finish out Whitmire’s term, which ends in January. She is also currently running for the next full term and faces the same opponent – state Rep. Jarvis Johnson (D) – in a Democratic primary runoff on May 28.
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In the special election, Cook beat Johnson with 57% of the vote compared to his 43%, as reported by the Texas Tribune, which also noted that the two candidates have similar progressive platforms that support LGBTQ+ rights, reproductive freedom, and increased funding for public schools.
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Cook, a sixth generation Texan, was endorsed by the LGBTQ+ Victory Fund. The organization’s president and CEO, Annise Parker, praised the fact that LGBTQ+ folks finally have a member of the community fighting for them in the state senate.
“For too long, the LGBTQ+ community has been the punching bag of bigots in the Texas Senate,” Parker said in a statement. “Now, they’ll have an out LGBTQ+ peer as their colleague who will look them in the eye and make them see the Texans they’re hurting. We know Molly will not only be a powerful voice for LGBTQ+ Texans, she’ll do a wonderful job fighting for the needs of all her constituents in District 15, including myself. Between now and May 28, I’ll be doing everything I can to ensure another victory for Molly and the cause of equality.”
Cook has a Master’s in Public Health and has organized for better transportation infrastructure in Houston. She also volunteered 40 hours per week for the Beto for Texas campaign while also working full-time in home-health nursing.
She called her victory “the honor of my life” and acknowledged that the work is far from offer with the May 28th primary runoff approaching.
“My campaign is prepared to knock on every door, talk to every voter, and reach every corner of District 15,” she said.
Part of Cook’s campaign is centered around the argument that bad laws in Texas directly affects the patients she sees every day in the ER. “I am sick of seeing my patients suffer preventable harm as a direct result of bad policy,” she wrote on X. “Help us send a nurse to the Texas Senate. We don’t have any more time to wait.”
The post was accompanied by a campaign video sharing examples of how policy has affected her work. “Will today be the day we’re racing to save her after a miscarriage?” Cook asks, referencing the state’s strict abortion ban.
Will it be the day we are “repairing the damage of a gunshot wound?” she asks, sharing a headline about the rise in gun violence in Houston.
Or will it be the day we’re “keeping neighbors alive after the power goes out?” she asked, sharing a headline about hundreds of Texans dying from cold and power loss.
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