Rebecca Cooke Raked in Cash While Ignoring Wisconsin Businesses
Commie Rebecca Cooke touts her work for a nonprofit that “spent more money on its employees than it did on grants” and “only gave out 17 grants while Cooke was earning compensation.”
“Commie Rebecca Cooke will do anything to line her own pockets while ignoring hardworking Wisconsinites. It’s no wonder they have rejected her twice before and will once again this fall.” – NRCC Spokesman Zach Bannon
Read more from Wisconsin Right Now here or see excerpts below:
Rebecca Cooke’s Business Closed & Her Nonprofit Spent More on Employees Than Grants in Recent Tax Form
Wisconsin Right Now
Jessica McBride and Jim Piwowarczyk
May 17, 2026
Leftist congressional candidate Rebecca Cooke touts her nonprofit and small business leadership on the campaign trail. However, a closer look at Red Letter Grant organization that she founded shows that the nonprofit only gave out 17 grants while Cooke was earning compensation there during recent years, and, in the most recent tax form available, the nonprofit spent more money on its employees than it did on grants.
When she’s not touting her waitressing skills, Cooke’s website calls her a “small business owner and nonprofit leader.” However, Cooke’s small business, a store called Red’s Mercantile, closed in 2022. Her other business, a small consulting company, formed the basis for her more extensive work history as a leftist political operative and fundraiser.
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Red Letter Grant, Cooke’s non-profit, does give grants to female entrepreneurs. Cooke touts Red Letter Grant on her campaign website, saying, “Looking to help other local entrepreneurs she founded the Red Letter Grant in 2016, a nonprofit that supports and empowers female entrepreneurs.” However, Wisconsin Right Now has documented:
Red Letter Grant’s 2024 tax form, which is the most recent available, shows that the nonprofit only dispensed $39,000 in grants but spent $62,639 for employee benefits and salaries during that fiscal year. Cooke is listed as a “director” on that tax form; she was not president. She received no compensation as director from the non-profit that year and reported 0 hours, the form shows. The nonprofit also ran a deficit that fiscal year.
We’ve asked Cooke for comment and to share the organization’s 990 tax forms for other years, including the amount of grant money dispensed each year. It appears the nonprofit may have brought in so little money that only e-postcards were filed, though, providing limited public information.
Although she’s still listed as the founder on the website, the Red Letter Grant’s website no longer lists Cooke as a director or in any leadership role.
A review of Red Letter Grant’s own list of grant recipients shows meager output for three years in which Cooke did receive compensation. From 2021 through 2023, Cooke received $68,830 from Red Letter Grant. We know this from federal disclosure forms that report her income. In that same time frame, she earned only $24,551 as a waitress.”
One of those grants went to the restaurant where she sometimes waitresses. The New York Post reported that Cooke was “accused of self-interested double-dealing after financial disclosures revealed she worked at one of the small businesses that her nonprofit gave a grant to” – the restaurant where she sometimes waitresses.” Cooke’s 2023 Financial Disclosure Report shows that she earned $18,000 in income from Red Letter Grant in 2022, and $2,256 working as a part-time waitress at The Good Wives, as well,” The Post added.
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