Bonus blog: 25 years ago, Bekki Cook became Missouri Secretary of State

Judith Moriarty, the Pettis County clerk, won election as the Missouri Secretary of State in November 1992. But by the summer of 1994, rumors and accusations were swirling that she had broken state election laws. And by December of that year, she was gone.

In her place Gov. Mel Carnahan appointed Jackson native and Cape Girardeau resident Rebecca McDowell Cook.

Here is the Southeast Missourian's coverage from 25 years ago today, when history was made in Jefferson City.

Published Saturday, Dec. 17, 1994, in the Southeast Missourian:

New Missouri Secretary of State Rebecca McDowell Cook of Cape Girardeau spoke with reporters after she was sworn in Friday in Jefferson City. Gov. Carnahan, right, said Cook has the leadership skills needed to restore confidence to the secretary of state's office. (Associated Press photo by KELLEY MCCALL ~ Southeast Missourian archive)

COOK NAMED SECRETARY OF STATE

By JIM GREBING
Southeast Missourian

JEFFERSON CITY -- Three of the words most often spoken in Jefferson City Friday morning were:"Who's Bekki Cook?"
Gov. Mel Carnahan appointed the 44-year-old Cape Girardeau lawyer and political outsider to replace ousted Secretary of State Judith Moriarty.
Her appointment was a surprise to pundits. It also was a surprise to Cook, who Carnahan contacted Tuesday morning about the job.
Seventy-two hours later, Cook stood at center stage in the House Information Center before a packed auditorium and took the oath of office from Supreme Court Judge Stephen N. Limbaugh Jr.
As her husband, John, 13-year-old son, Hunter, and 12-year-old daughter, Morgan, held a Bible, and with Carnahan and interim Secretary of State Dick Hanson nearby, Cook became Missouri's 36th secretary of state.
She became only the fourth woman to hold statewide office in Missouri, and the first Cape Girardeau resident to hold state office since James Monroe Seibert was state auditor at the turn of the century.
On Monday, the Missouri Supreme Court voted to remove Judith Moriarty from office following an impeachment trial, which prompted Carnahan's naming of a replacement.
The governor said Friday his top priority was picking someone who could bring professionalism and integrity back to the office.
Carnahan said one of the main priorities is restoring confidence to the state's election process. The secretary of state serves as Missouri's chief elections official.
"I believe Bekki Cook will restore confidence to the office of secretary of state and will assure that the activities of the office are done honestly, professionally, effectively and for the benefit of all Missourians."
When Moriarty's future in the office became uncertain, more than a dozen names were mentioned as likely successors. Cook was never mentioned.
Carnahan conceded he picked a woman who is virtually unknown around the state.
"She is not someone who has aspired to be secretary of state, and she is not someone who aspired to hold political office of any kind," Carnahan said. "But she is someone who has served her community and her state most effectively and very well. And she is someone who can do this job and do it well."
In her remarks at the ceremony, Cook thanked the staff for its dedication during the tumultuous past few months, and said she looked forward to working with them as she tries to restore the office's integrity and professionalism.
"It is important that the office carry on the tradition that has been built here for many years and that the confidence in and understanding that we have to work efficiently and hard to deliver services to the citizens of this state," Cook said.
Cook later attended a luncheon, where 22 division directors introduced themselves to their new boss. Most were meeting her for the first time.
"What I want to bring to this office for you and your colleagues is a solid foundation of performance and good service for the citizens of Missouri," Cook told the group. "I appreciate your hard work up to this point and your hard work in the future."
Born and reared in Jackson, Cook has practiced law in Cape Girardeau since 1975. Three years ago she left the Oliver firm, where she was a partner, to spend more time with her children and with civic activities.
Cook, a Democrat, was appointed in 1990 by then-Gov. John Ashcroft, a Republican, to the State Board of Education. Carnahan reappointed her last year to serve until 2000.
Cook resigned the seat on the board with Friday's appointment.
Reporters quizzed Carnahan about choosing an outsider and questioned whether Cook would be a viable Democratic candidate for the office in 1996.
Carnahan said that if Cook can restore confidence to the office, "the politics will take care of itself."
Cook said she is focused on the job at hand, but likely would become a candidate in 1996.
In other questions, and later in a dozen individual interviews, reporters continued to press Cook on her qualifications, whether she was going to move to Jefferson City, and her plans for changes in the office.
OTHER NOTABLES
Aside from Rebecca Cook, four other Cape Girardeau County persons have held office in Missouri's executive branch. They are
Wilson Brown from Cape Girardeau, who served as state auditor from 1849 to 1852, and lieutenant governor from 1853 to 1855.
Franklin Cannon, from Jackson, lieutenant governor from 1836 to 1840.
James M. Seibert, from near Shawneetown, state treasurer from 1885 to 1889, and state auditor from 1889 to 1901.

Morgan Cook, 12, looks on as her mother Rebecca McDowell Cook is interviewed after being sworn in as the new Missouri Secretary of State. (Associated Press ~ Southeast Missourian archive)

OPPORTUNITY CATCHES COOK BY SURPRISE

By JIM GREBING
Southeast Missourian

JEFFERSON CITY -- When Bekki Cook's telephone rang Tuesday, the last person she expected to be on the other end of the line was Gov. Mel Carnahan.
When the governor said he wanted to talk about the secretary of state's office that was vacated by Judith Moriarity's ouster, Cook assumed Carnahan wanted to discuss the possible appointment of Emily Firebaugh, a Fredericktown newspaper publisher, whose quest for the appointment Cook endorsed in a letter to the governor.
But Cook was shocked to learn the governor wanted her for the seat. "The governor called me out of the blue," she said Friday after her swearing-in ceremony.
Cook called her husband, John, at his law office to seek his advice. Before the day was over, she was in Carnahan's office in Jefferson City.
Talks continued Wednesday and Thursday, when Cook realized the secretary of state's job was a challenge she wanted.
Carnahan lauded that Cook, a virtual unknown in state politics, is an outsider who wasn't seeking the post.
"I have known Bekki for some time and I know she is a person who can get something done," Carnahan said. "She is a person of high integrity."
The governor said he didn't seriously begin focusing on a new secretary of state until after the Supreme Court decision Monday to oust Moriarty.
After reviewing a list of talented candidates, Carnahan decided Cook was someone with whom he needed to talk further.
"She is the only person I offered the job to," Carnahan said Friday. "She is my first choice."
Cook's two children, Hunter, 13, and Morgan, 12, first learned of the opportunity Tuesday afternoon when their father picked them up from school. Instead of picking out a Christmas tree, they talked about what life would be like if Mom became secretary of state.
"I couldn't talk for a few minutes," said Hunter, a junior high school student, when asked about his first reaction to news his mother was being considered. "It all happened really quick. I'm pretty excited. It's a great honor for my mom."
Morgan, a sixth-grade student at Washington School, admitted she was "terrified by the news at first," because it would mean a move to Jefferson City and being away from friends.
"The idea is kind of growing on me," Morgan said. "It is a little easier after a couple of days. It's a great honor for my mom and one of the reasons it's not hard to move."
Hunter was taking some comfort his mother would have a state car to drive, with license plate number 3. "That's pretty cool," he beamed.
John Cook, a Cape Girardeau attorney, joined the rest of his family in their initial shock. He also shares their pride at the opportunity given Bekki.
"Life is change," said Cook, who has relatives in McGirk, a small town about 10 miles west of Jefferson City, where Bekki will stay temporarily.
"I was certainly surprised," he said. "But it only took me a few minutes to understand why the governor would pick her. It makes good sense."
Cook said people will be pleasantly surprised to find out how capable an administrator his wife is.
He said his wife will prove that citizens outside of government can be effective in office.
"She is as brilliant conceptually and creatively as anybody I have ever known," he said.
As for the family Christmas tree, it is the Cook's top priority today. At 8 a.m. Monday, Bekki Cook, referred to officially as "Madam Secretary," will begin her first full week in a new career.

Rebecca McDowell Cook, circa 1996. (Submitted photo)

FAMILY, FRIENDS PRAISE APPOINTMENT OF COOK

By MARK BLISS
Southeast Missourian
Rebecca McDowell Cook's appointment as Missouri's new secretary of state won universal praise Friday from friends and acquaintances, who described her as intelligent and caring.
"I tell you, I am so tickled to death about my kid," said Jackson resident Ed McClary. "I just shouted when I found out that she got the appointment."
McClary served as a second father to Cook after her father, Eugene McDowell of Jackson, died in a plane crash in 1970 at the age of 47.
"She is just the sweetest little gal," McClary said. "She is very caring about the people she likes."
He added, "She will fight like hell for a cause and there is nothing wrong with that."
McClary, 79, was a good friend of Bekki Cook's father despite their political differences.
"I am a good, staunch Republican and her daddy was a damn fool Democrat. Bekki and I would needle each other about politics, but that was about as far as it went."
McClary said, "I think she will be perfectly honest and will not let politics interfere with what she has to do."
Bekki Cook grew up in Jackson. She graduated in 1968 from Jackson High School, where she was voted as "Most Likely to Succeed."
Former high school principal Jim Nelson said Cook was an intelligent student, active in Student Council and editor of the yearbook.
"She was very well liked," recalled Nelson. She was chosen prom queen her senior year.
"She was involved in everything. She just wasn't a wallflower."
Cape Girardeau lawyer John Oliver Jr. praised the appointment of Cook, 44, one of Cape Girardeau's first women attorneys.
Cook graduated from the University of Missouri Law School in 1975.
She worked for what was then the law firm of Limbaugh, Limbaugh and Russell from 1975-1978.
She then moved on to the Oliver firm, where she was a partner and shareholder for 13 years.
She quit practicing law in January 1993 to devote time to her family.
Oliver said two words describe Cook:intense and intelligent.
Oliver doesn't dwell on Cook's politics. "She obviously is a very liberal Democrat, so what?"
He said, "If you look at what Bekki has done outside of the practice of law and outside of the family, it has all been people oriented."
She has been active in countless civic affairs.
Washington School Principal Barbara Blanchard was elated by the news.
Cook has been active in the school's PTA, having served as the organization's president. Her son, Hunter, who is now in the 8th grade, attended Washington School. Her daughter, Morgan, is in 6th grade at Washington School.
Blanchard said Cook is the type of person who will assist with a chili supper or play day. "She helps tutor kids one on one."
Blanchard said Cook is an energetic parent.
"As busy as Bekki was, I always thought she was almost a super mom," Blanchard said. "She gets out there and rolls up her sleeves and gets down and works with us."
Cook served on the State Board of Education for four years before her new appointment prompted her resignation from the board Friday.
Cook also has served as vice chairman of the Southeast Missouri University Foundation board.
Jackson lawyer John Lichtenegger, a Republican, grew up in the same neighborhood as Cook. He describes her as a wonderful person and great mother.
Although Cook is active in the Missouri Democratic Party, Lichtenegger said Cook is fiercely independent.
"She is not a person who will be taken over by a bureaucracy or an administration. She is very much her own person."
Said Lichtenegger, "I think she is capable of making very tough decisions."

BEKKI COOK AT A GLANCE

Biographical information about Missouri's newly named secretary of state:
NAME:Rebecca McDowell Cook.
AGE:44.
HOMETOWN:Native of Jackson, Mo.; resides in Cape Girardeau.
FAMILY:Married to Cape Girardeau attorney John Larkin Cook; one son, Hunter L. Cook, and one daughter Morgan E. Cook. Both attend public schools in Cape Girardeau.
EDUCATION:Public schools in Jackson, Mo.; attended Sweet Briar College in Virginia, Southeast Missouri State University in Cape Girardeau; bachelor of arts in political science, University of Missouri-Columbia, 1972; Law degree, University of Missouri-Columbia School of Law, 1975.
BACKGROUND:Private law practice with two Cape Girardeau firms starting in 1975; no longer actively practicing law; Served on The Missouri Bar's Continuing Legal Education Committee and was vice-chair of its Family Law Committee; Helped draft the Bar's proposal, now law, on joint custody; appointed to State Board of Education in 1990 by former Republican Gov. John Ashcroft; reappointed to eight-year term in 1993 by Democratic Gov. Mel Carnahan.