Merrill Cook

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Merrill Cook

Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Utah's 2nd district
In office 1997 - 2001
Preceded by	Enid Greene
Succeeded by	Jim Matheson

Born	May 6, 1946 Philadelphia, Penn.
Political party	Republican
Spouse	Camille Cook, a well respected local opera singer.

Merill Cook (born May 6, 1946) was a Republican member of the United States House of Representatives from Utah.

Cook, a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints^[1] was born and raised in in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. He graduated from the University of Utah in 1969 and earned an M.B.A. from Harvard Business School in 1971. Upon receiving his degree, Cook was hired as a budget analyst by Arthur D. Little, Inc. He left the corporatio in 1973 to co-found the Cook-Slurry Co.

Cook was elected to Congress in 1996 and represented Utah's 2nd district from January 3, 1997 until January 3, 2001. In 2000, he was defeated in a bitter Republican primary by challenger Derek Smith, who went on to lose the election by a wide margin to Democrat Jim Matheson, who holds the seat today. In 2004, Cook ran as an Independent for Mayor of Salt Lake County, Utah. Cook received 6% of the vote in a the three-way race won by Democrat Peter Corroon.