Candidate for the legislative session attacked the appearance and IQ of the city he would represent

Candidate of the Democratic Assembly Brad Cook has nothing bad to say about Portage now that he is running to represent the city in the statehouse this fall.

But that wasn’t always the case.

Democratic candidate for the Assembly, Brad Cook

Check out what he had to say on social media a few years ago about the female shoppers at one of Portage’s larger stores.

“Attention: The Bearded Lady Convention is now taking place at the Portage Walmart!”

Or this Facebook post about the city in general.

“It’s harder than usual to find intelligent life forms in the city of Portage today. Grrr…”

But Cook, a Columbia County supervisor, may have been in an even worse situation when he left his home county.

Brad Cook, a Democrat running for state legislature in the Portage area, made social media posts in 2015 that disparaged customers at East Town Mall in Madison.

In 2015, he denigrated the racially diverse customers of East Towne Mall in Madison, calling the mall an “Obamanation” made up only of “beggars, drug addicts and wannabe white trash.” Within five minutes of arriving, he said, he saw “hair-pulling and haystacks.”

“Space travel cannot come soon enough,” Cook wrote.

In another post from 2015, his comments were even worse, attacking a group he called “fucking idiots” without specifying his location.

“Has nothing to do with justice for anyone or anything. It’s just about breaking into liquor stores and short-term loan shops. Bring in the National Guard and shoot first, ask questions later.”

Oops.

Cook is one of three Democrats and one Republican running in the 40th Congressional District, which was traditionally a red district but turned blue as a result of redistricting. The incumbent Rep. Dave Considinea Republican from Baraboo, has decided not to run for re-election.

When Cook, a 50-year-old real estate agent, was initially cagey about the social media posts, saying only that the posts sounded like he had posted them before. However, he later acknowledged that he had deleted the posts when he cleared his Facebook history.

“Yes, I remember deleting those,” Cook said.

In the interview, he said the posts were written nearly a decade ago out of “a bit of frustration and immaturity,” when he was in his late 30s and early 40s. For example, he believes the article about the lack of intelligent life in Portage probably had something to do with drivers driving without lights in stormy weather.

For the others he had no real justification.

“I’m sure they were mentioned in jest,” Cook said. “When I sit here today and you read them to me, it doesn’t come across well at all.”

Two of Cook’s opponents criticized him for his previous Facebook posts. Karen DeSantoa 59-year-old Democrat and former CEO of Boys and Girls Clubs of West Central Wisconsingave no answer.

“It’s hard to believe these comments were made,” said Kyle Kunickia 23-year-old Democrat, the son of the former Speaker of Parliament Walter Kunicki. “I think they’re hurtful, and I mean they’re derogatory at best. These are things he has to answer for to the people of the 40th District.”

And the people of Madison if Cook wins.

Gerald Helmera 73-year-old businessman, said he limits his Facebook comments to memes and comments to family and old school friends. He is the only Republican in the now liberal district.

Helmer said Cook must have realized he had crossed a line.

“Since he deleted these things, he obviously knows that this is very damaging to his campaign,” Helmer said.

Cook argued that he is a different person today than he was in the mid-2010s when he published the controversial articles.

Today, he is heavily involved in his community: he was a volunteer firefighter in Pardeeville for 24 years, served on the Columbia County Board since 2020, worked in real estate in Portage, and participated in many volunteer groups and activities.

This leaves him little time for social media, he said.

“If you talk to anyone who has known me in the recent past, you know I don’t endorse that kind of thing,” Cook said. “I rarely post anything like that on Facebook anymore.”

Maybe not. But try as he might, Cook couldn’t completely erase his Facebook history. To quote one of his old posts: The time travel didn’t come fast enough.

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