“It took grit, trust, and persistence, and this time we won.”

Houston Chronicle: Houston live election updates: Mayor Turner endorses Sheila Jackson Lee, Chris Hollins in runoffs

“As organizers fighting for a safer, healthier future for the Houston region, sometimes we win, and sometimes we lose,” Fair for Houston organizer Molly Cook said in a statement released by the grassroots campaign on Wednesday morning. “It took grit, trust, and persistence, and this time we won. I hope everyone watching this campaign unfold for the last year feels more powerful than ever to shape change in their own backyards.”

— Fair for Houston organizer Molly Cook

"It's not every day that Texans get a choice between good Democrats."

Houston Public Media: As John Whitmire bids to become Houston mayor, other local Democrats vie for his Texas Senate seat

“This seat is extremely special,” said Molly Cook, another one of the candidates. “We have a safe Democratic seat that is in the heart of Harris County, and it's open for the first time in 40 years. So Democrats in Texas get to choose the person who represents them and the style that they prefer.”

“It's not every day that Texans get a choice between good Democrats,” Cook added. “I'm really excited about this primary.”

— Former Whitmire opponent Molly Cook

“People choose this neighborhood for walkability and accessibility.”

Houston Landing: Towering utility poles block Montrose sidewalks, blocking ADA access and angering residents

“It went up overnight, not an ounce of warning for anyone,” Cook said. “People choose this neighborhood for walkability and accessibility, and it is a slap in the face and it is disrespectful to the neighborhood to destroy a main thoroughfare sidewalk with absolutely no warning, without coming to the community first.”

— activist and Texas State Senate candidate Molly Cook

“I think the way you message around an issue changes hearts and minds.”

Houston Landing: In the Houston mayor’s race, John Whitmire is running on his record. So are his opponents.

“Substance and style are interlinked, I think the way you message around an issue changes hearts and minds, and if the only way you work is behind closed doors, that’s not ideal.”

— progressive primary challenger Molly Cook

Unfair! Suburbs snatching millions from Harris Co

Defender: Unfair! Suburbs snatching millions from Harris Co

“These issue-driven campaigns can help engage and galvanize those who might feel disconnected from mainstream politics.”

Houston Chronicle: As Houston turns more blue, the mayoral race gives young progressives an opportunity to shine

Molly Cook, a Democratic activist running for Whitmire’s state senate seat, agreed that the progressive community's years of groundwork are beginning to yield some results.

Within six months, she says, the campaign gathered over 23,000 signatures to add Proposition B to the November ballot. The ballot measure, if approved, would require Houston to withdraw from any regional planning group without a proportional voting structure based on population size.

Cook said these issue-driven campaigns can help engage and galvanize those who might feel disconnected from mainstream politics.

“It’s difficult to affect electoral dynamics in one cycle,” she said, before adding that this kind of proposition would almost certainly boost turnout.

— Molly Cook, a Democratic activist running for Whitmire’s state senate seat

How we got the Texas Legislature to invest $1 billion in state parks

Environment Texas: How we got the Texas Legislature to invest $1 billion in state parks

Doug’s lobbyist Justin Keener provided strategic advice and helped Doug maintain a steady drumbeat of communications to key legislators. Houston activists Molly Cook and Michael Moritz worked the Houston delegation to build support.

"Y’all’s success is measured in billions (of dollars) and miles (of road).”

Houston Chronicle: Texas poised for record $85 billion-plus in road construction

"Y’all’s success is measured in billions (of dollars) and miles (of road), not in small businesses opened, not in communities healed and not in lives saved.”

— Stop TxDOT organizer Molly Cook

Plan to demolish apartments near Minute Maid Park sparks backlash from Sheila Jackson Lee, activists

Houston Chronicle: Plan to demolish apartments near Minute Maid Park sparks backlash from Sheila Jackson Lee, activists

"On Saturday, activists with Stop TxDOT I-45 gathered to photograph community members at the demolition site, and engaged with Astros fans leaving Minute Maid Park about the harmful local impact they say the expansion will have. About 25 passersby took pictures with signs reading “Housing Not Highways” and other slogans."

“Houston is the beating heart of the region.”

Kinder Institute for Urban Research: Highways, flooding and sprawl: How Houston could have a bigger say in the region's future

“Houston is the beating heart of the region,” said Molly Cook, an organizer with Fair for Houston. “But unfortunately, if you don't have the voting structure, you get outvoted by different interests around the region.”

“If you assume horizontal population growth, and if you assume that every single person who moves the Houston region is going to move with a car … that sort of leads down this path of what the city ends up actually looking like and how much concrete is poured,” Cook said.

— Molly Cook, an organizer with Fair for Houston

“It was all part of their effort to manufacture community support.”

Texas Observer: TEXAS TRANSPORTATION ADVOCACY REVS UP AT THE LEGE

[Cook] felt that something was off about Gaston’s testimony. “After talking to her, she explained that the relocation agency had come to her and said, ‘This is what we want you to say. We’re going to pay you to get down there, and we’ll bus you to get down there,” she said. “It was all part of their effort to manufacture community support.”

— Molly Cook, a co-organizer with Houston-based and Texas Streets Coalition-associated Stop TxDOT I-45

“It shouldn’t be just rich, able-bodied folks who can get down here and participate in these giant projects that affect every one of us.”

Houston Chronicle: Opponents deluge TxDOT officials with calls to rethink highway projects across state, including I-45

“It shouldn’t be just rich, able-bodied folks who can get down here and participate in these giant projects that affect every one of us.”

— Molly Cook, a nurse and leading organizer of Stop TxDOT I-45

"We have got to have buses and we have to take people out of their cars”

Houston Chronicle: I-45 project to resume after 2-year pause, as TxDOT, federal officials agree on $9.7B rebuild

"We have got to have buses and we have to take people out of their cars.”

— Molly Cook, an organizer with Stop TxDOT I-45

Politics Done Right Podcast

Molly Cook discusses the need to completely rethink a Houston freeway based on justice & equity.

“People cannot live in cars."

Associated Press: Houston highway project sparks debate over racial equity

“People cannot live in cars.”

“We have to move people and not cars and we have to clean up the air quality.”

“Would these elected officials be so eager to move the project forward if it were their districts being torn apart?”

Houston Chronicle: Letters to the Editor

"Regarding “Houston Republicans urge Buttigieg to lift pause on I-45 expansion project,” (Nov. 9): It is unethical and outside their scope for these U.S. congressmen to hurry along a federal investigation of civil rights violations. There is no national presence working in Houston to fight the I-45 expansion. The Federal Highway Administration pause is in direct response to the Title VI concerns filed by real people in affected communities and local advocacy groups. The seven signatory elected officials on this letter do not really represent communities directly impacted by the project. They are ignorant to what is going on locally.

The people of Houston and Harris County deserve a functional I-45 project that centers those most impacted, reduces environmental impact and actually improves congestion and safety. The current design exacerbates all the problems TxDOT seeks to solve. A wider I-45 would not help in a hurricane evacuation; the key to successful evacuation is coordinated emergency response and messaging. No road in the world is wide enough for single-occupancy vehicle evacuation en masse.

Would these elected officials be so eager to move the project forward if it were their districts being torn apart? Or are they pushing profits for an elite few at the expense of our city? Maybe if they actually showed up to some of the advocacy meetings they love to talk about, we’d know."

“Resistance is only going to build.”

Community Impact Houston: I-45 expansion on hold as federal investigation plays out

“Resistance is only going to build.”

“There’s an influx of new faces because of all the news ... but also because they see we are fighting for the right thing.”

“The design as it stands currently is so harmful and so devastating.”

“There’s only so much we can accomplish in our own home without advocating at a state level.”

Streetsblog USA: How Highways Wrecked America’s Cities

“Stop TxDOT I-45 set a goal as an organization early on to try and take this to the State level, because our mission is to create a more equitable transportation in the state, and also because we are so limited.”

“Houston and Harris County will try to do all sorts of things, like hold people accountable to air quality standards, and the State will block it at every turn. The County may want to make a place walkable and the State will block that. There’s only so much we can accomplish in our own home without advocating at a state level.”

“It’s very racially unjust."

Houston Chronicle: Fate of controversial I-45 project to be decided Tuesday, with yes-or-no vote after 15 years of work

“It’s very racially unjust.”

“We’re going to spend all this money to make the traffic worse and hurt a lot of people.”

“I want to die in Houston. I don't want to be a climate refugee.”

Houston Public Media: Houston Activists Continue Push Against I-45 Expansion As Public Comment Period Closes

"It is very clear that there are two sides to this issue.”

“One side stands to benefit financially, and one side stands to lose their homes, or stands to lose major parts of their city that they know and love.”

“I want to reject a yes-no vote on something that is this important, that is this expensive, that is this monumental for generations to come.”

“I want to die in Houston. I don't want to be a climate refugee. I don't want to have to work on my car, own a car, drive a car every single place that I go for the rest of my entire life. I want to live here happily with walkability, with a concern for the climate, with a concern for those who cannot afford to own cars.”