By Southern Torch Staff • admin@southerntorch.com
PHOTO: Birmingham attorney Gregory Cook is running for a seat on the Supreme Court of Alabama next year. (Gittings Photography)
FORT PAYNE, Ala. — Veteran attorney and candidate for the Alabama Supreme Court Greg Cook spoke last week at a meeting of the DeKalb County Republican Women.
Cook serves as the general counsel of the Alabama Republican Party and has practiced law for 29 years. Cook attended Harvard Law School, graduating magna cum laude, and is a veteran of the United States Air Force. He has written several books including the two volume treatise on the Alabama Rules of Civil Procedure which govern the workings of the Alabama courts.
During the meeting, Cook emphasized his experience in election law, and credited Attorney General Steve Marshall and Secretary of State John Merrill, who insisted upon enforcing the letter of Alabama laws during the crisis in the face of great pressure to bend the rules during the COVID-19 pandemic. He also praised local officials across the state, focusing upon the Circuit Clerk, Probate Judge and Sheriff in each state – who are the three officials in each county primarily charged with running elections.
Cook began volunteering for the Republican Party in the early 1990’s, when there were many lawsuits and disputes over the enforcement of election law. These problems culminated in the election in 1994 for Alabama Chief Justice which came down to slightly over 200 votes, leading to an appeal to the Alabama Supreme Court to count absentee ballots which did not comply with Alabama statutory law requiring two witnesses or a notary. Eventually, Chief Justice Hooper – the first Republican Supreme Court Justice since Reconstruction – was sworn into office almost a year after the election.
Cook currently serves as a partner with Balch & Bingham in Birmingham. He is a veteran of the U.S. Air Force and has been married to his wife Kimberly since 1988. He has served as a member of the Vestavia Hills City Council since 2016.
Cook has been an active member of the Alabama Republican Party for 20 years and served as a delegate for President Donald Trump (R-Fla.) in the 2020 U.S. Presidential Election.
