Joseph Christopher Cooke(December 11, 1988) is a Jesstopian Politician who sought election as Mesa’s Governor in 2024. He is the eldest nephew of Thomas Cooke. He was named the Nationalist Party's nominee for Governor during the 2024 Mesa Gubernatorial Elections on June 18, 2024. He lost the election to incumbent Joshua Adamson by 70 VBP. He has not started if he has any plans now that he lost.
Early Life[]
Cooke was born on December 11, 1988, to the sister of Thomas Cooke’s mom and his father Mark Cooke. He attended Roberto Central School District and graduated in 2005. During his high school career, Cooke played Varsity football, baseball and basketball, which only played for 2 years.
Cooke later attended Alden University where obtained his masters in political science and political campaign finance. He also obtained his Masters in Business Administration. He moved to Mesa after graduating from High school in 2005. He attended Alden University from 2005-2009.
Representative For Mesa’s 6th Congressional District(2012-2015)[]
Cooke served as the 85th Representative for Mesa’s 6th Congressional District. He was elected on November 25, 2012 as the youngest State Representative in Mesa history. During his tenure, he worked closely with major Mesa senators to ensure funding could be established for the State's DCA Act, also known as the Deferred Childcare Adoption Act, which was proposed for illegal children who are entered into the State's adoption network. The purpose would be to postpone the accessibility to the adoption network for these children to protect border security and ensure all children are processed through the country's Childhood Arrival system.
Governor Campaign[]
On November 24, 2022, Cooke announced that he was running for Governor after hinting at a potential bid for Governor back in 2022. He will announce campaign plans to his team later this year. On March 15, 2023, Cooke's Campaign Team issued that his campaign would focus on Government reform, Justice reform as well as issues pertaining to the LGBTQ+ community and the economy.
Running Mate[]
On August 7, 2024, during a virtual rally, Cooke announced that he had selected Rhonda Bushall as his Lt. Governor running mate. She accepted the appointment and said that she looked forward to working for "all Mesians." The two will began hosting virtual rallies together, with Bushall's debut being held in Littleton Falls, Mesa.
Issues[]
Trans Care[]
On April 15, 2023, Cooke announced that if he is to win in 2024, he would work on strengthening Trans protections and ensure that Government overreach remained restrained. He has also showed immense support for the Recall of Governor Kirk Paul, which he was facing on June 5, 2023, before his resignation on May 9, 2023. He has also express that he will do more to ensure that the Transgender community is well protected and ensure they have access to affordable care.
Economy[]
Cooke has issued that he will continue to focus on the Mesian economy, and ensure that inflation is heavily reduced. He is working to reform Government spending to also increase the reduction of inflation. He is hoping to flex the State's low living costs, by reducing the Rent cap ceiling. He will also work to reduce grocery prices by sourcing local and ensuring jobs stay right in Mesa.
Justice Reform[]
If he wins in 2024, Cooke has introduced several ways to reform the State's justice system and ensure fair treatment of all individuals occurs in the Justice System. He hopes to regulate what each Law Enforcement is tasked with doing and increase spending to ensure fair justice to all Mesians and not just a majority group. He is hoping to target profiling on minority groups that has crippled the public's trust in its government. He is hoping for a coexisting government-pubic relationship.
Special Debate Between Joshua Adamson And Joseph Cooke[]
On June 21, 2023, both the Adamson campaign and Cooke campaign agreed to host a special debate between the 2024 Mesa Gubernatorial candidates. The date for the debate was scheduled for June 30, 2023. On June 30, 2023, both Cooke and Adamson met each other in person for the first time. During the debate, the discussed topics including the LGBTQ+ community, school safety, the state's economy, job growth, new legislation, and the FAIR ACT.
During the LGBTQ segment, Governor Adamson called out Cooke's LGBTQ+ policies that he was aiming to launch at the start of his term if elected. In short, he said "Joe Cooke has no interest in serving the members of the LGBTQ+ community and against what other Nationalists are saying, says he won't support the LGBTQ+. He continues his attacks on my administration saying we're not doing enough to protect them."
Cooke clapped back saying "we are always looking for ways to protect Mesian LGBTQ+ members, in every way possible. If we really want to get down to it, your administration and the previous administration failed to address the hate and lies that the Paul administration spewed, and how those policies and hate led to the death of 2 gay men. Get it right Mr. Governor. Your a failure, and so was Kirk Paul."
Nomination[]
On June 18, 2024, after two days of voting, Cooke was named the 2024 Mesa Gubernatorial nominee for the Nationalist Party. He will be the third person to have the highest votes towards his nomination since 1952, when Vincent Bushaldi won over 60% of the nominating vote.
Support Of Governor Kirk Paul's Recall[]
On April 13, 2023, the State Legislature officially voted to recall Governor Kirk Paul and Cooke expressed extreme support for it. He said in a brief statement that "Governor Kirk Paul's actions and anti-trans sentiment, threatens a vulnerable population and ensures that hate remains persistent and strong throughout the state. He must be removed to protect LGBTQ Mesians."
When Kirk Paul resigned, Cooke expressed concerns that he will no longer face impeachment, something that he had heavily supported and continued to support after the State assembly announced it would not seek further impeachment or recall actions. He was heavily opposed to dropping the impeachment proceedings and called it a failure on the Republican Party's part, for ending the impeachment inquiry and potential resulting barring of Kirk Paul from running for office in the future.
Controversies[]
On May 25, 2023, Joseph Cooke was contacted by the Jesstopian Revenue System concerning under reporting of financial reports, including his 2012 Congressional Bid Donations, which the J.R.S estimates to be at least J 500,000. The Jesstopian Federal Government is working to investigate whether Cooke knowingly and willingly failed to disclose the J 500,000 donation for his 2012 Congressional Bid. The Federal Crimes Investigation Service says it is launching a "Tax Fraud Case" against the 2024 Gubernatorial Candidate.