Cooksey was first elected to the Mecklenburg Board of County Commissioners in 2008. A Republican, he served nearly two full terms on the Board representing District 5.
Cooksey worked full-time as the in-house counsel for Akima Management Services in Charlotte. He graduated from Davidson College with a political science degree and from the University of Michigan Law School.
On May 27, 2010, Cooksey announced at the Board meeting that he had been diagnosed with pancreatic cancer, but doctors had performed surgery and that he considered himself cancer-free. After additional complications, Cooksey entered hospice earlier this summer.
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