On The Record: Aimee Boone

For this episode of On The Record, we speak with Aimee Boone, the Finance Director for the Texas Democratic Party.

How did you get started in politics? Did you come to it in your youth or later on?

I got started in politics after I’d been out of college for a few years and was working in the non-profit world in Washington, DC. In May 2004, I was finishing my first year of public policy graduate program at George Washington University and had just wrapped up working on the March for Women’s Lives. I decided, almost on a whim, that I wanted to work on a competitive campaign. My family is still in Dallas, where I grew up, so of course we were all tuned into Martin Frost’s race against Pete Sessions, and I moved down to Dallas to work with Congressman Frost’s finance team.

The fact that Congressman Frost lost broke my heart, but I fell in love with Texas politics and have been doing it ever since.

Who are some of your political heroes?

My mother is my biggest political hero. She came to politics through her philanthropic work and through her commitment to bettering the lives of Texas women, children and families. Her thoughtfulness, drive and her incredible talent as a fundraiser inspired me to get involved in politics –and specifically fundraising – in the first place, and I still look to her as an example in the work I do now.

Being a good Texas girl, I also have to mention Ann Richards. She was such a trailblazer for Texas women in politics, and I have enormous admiration for her vision and determination.

Finally, Congressman Frost is certainly one of my political heroes. It was such an honor to work on his campaign. He showed all of us what it meant to be a good fundraiser, a good campaigner, and above all, a good steward of his constituents’ interests.

What are you looking forward to in the coming cycle?

I’m looking forward to having the opportunity to win back the State House. We have terrific opportunities up and down the ballot, but the momentum’s on our side in the House, especially with Rep. Kirk England switching parties. Seeing the State House elect a Democratic Speaker again will be incredible.

What has been the most valuable lesson you’ve learned in politics?

First: you can’t hit pitches you don’t swing at. Second: good candidates with enough money sometimes lose, but good candidates without enough money never win.

Tell us a little bit about the Texas Democratic Party, and what role the organization plays in electing Democrats to office.

The TDP is working to build a permanent infrastructure that will support all of our Democratic candidates. By taking our message to Texas voters, by providing a state-of-the-art voter file to our candidates, activists, precinct chairs and Texas Majority Builder sustaining members, and by doing strategic voter communication, the TDP will mobilize and turn out Democratic voters in 2008.