Chemist touts experience

Guilford man runs on limited budget governor nomi lieutenant governo

Running for statewide office is nothing new for Timothy Cook, an industrial chemist from Guilford County.

Cook is making his third run for statewide office in six years. He finished a distant second in the Republican primary for lieutenant governor in 2004 and a distant fifth in the Republican primary for the U.S. Senate in 2002.

Cook is confident, though, that this will be his year. He is one of four candidates in the Republican primary for lieutenant governor.

Cook looks at the competition and sees no one who brings his real-world experience to the table.

"I've got the most relevant experience in state jobs than anybody," Cook said. "Biodiesel, agriculture, textiles, scientific jobs."

Cook, 39, lives in the Guilford County community of Browns Summit. His concerns range from taxes he thinks are too high, a lack of job growth, protecting the environment and developing alternative fuels.

"We need to look at our tax structure, how that affects bringing jobs to the state, and we also need to do something about the tax structure for small businesses," he said, noting that the incentives handed out by the state often go to large companies that expand or relocate here.

Cook grew up on a tobacco farm in Browns Summit. He works as a chemist, doing research for Chemol, a Greensboro company that makes products for textile manufacturers. He said he helped develop biodiesel nearly 20 years ago.

On other issues, he said the federal government should do more to stop illegal immigration and the state should not be issuing driver's licenses to illegal immigrants. He said the relatively new state lottery has not been a boon for education and the state should provide tax credits for parents who educate their children outside of the public schools.

He said he would fight a culture of corruption and incompetence in the Democratic-led state government.

"If my picture ever goes up on the wall, there will be some people going out the door," he said.

In his previous run for lieutenant governor, Cook said he wanted to reform the child support system. He said the state should be required to notify fathers when support payments are made. He said he had to pay extra in child support because of a lack of notification.

Cook has also described himself as pro-life and a strong believer in the right to bear arms.

Cook's criminal record shows that he was convicted of a misdemeanor charge of assaulting a female in 2000. A judge granted him a prayer for judgment, which typically means there would be no penalty if he stayed out of trouble.

Cook confirmed the conviction, but said he was innocent of the charge. He said he had suffered a deep laceration to his right hand just days before the incident and therefore could not have assaulted anyone.

As in his previous bids, Cook is running a shoestring campaign. He has indicated to the State Board of Elections that he plans to raise or spend no more than $3,000 in his election bid. He isn't worried about being outspent in the primary.

"So far, I haven't had to spend anything other than the filing fee," he said. "I've got a bunch of signs out there and I had it very strategic last time I ran, so if all goes as planned, right before the primary, I'll have a lot of name recognition."