On The Record: Elizabeth Pearsall Lippincott

For this episode of On The Record, we speak with Elizabeth Pearsall Lippincott, Chief of Staff/General Counsel for Texas State Representative Juan Garcia.

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

I’m lucky – I actually get to use my college major in my work. I majored in politics at Princeton and wrote my thesis on the influence of media coverage on the pre-primary winnowing stage of presidential elections. After a stint as a newspaper reporter in Dallas, I came to Austin to work in the press office for the Dukakis-Bentsen campaign in 1988 – so long ago, Democratic presidential campaigns still had offices in Texas!

What was your personal progression from the role of activist to the role of chief of staff?

After working two sessions in the Legislature in 1989 and 1991, I went to law school at Texas and pursued a legal career. However, I always stayed involved in politics and tried to help candidates I cared about, like Rep. Chuck Hopson from my home town in East Texas. I was fortunate to work for Ann Richards when she won the Governor’s Mansion in 1990, and her death in 2006 convinced me that I needed to get more directly involved in politics. Friends including Rep. Hopson told me about this impressive new candidate Juan Garcia, a challenger from Corpus Christi with a dream resume and a lot to contribute to Texas. After the elections Juan and his wife Denise and I sat down to talk. We immediately found that we shared a lot of ideas about what our generation can do to help this great state, and I went to work for Juan about a week later.

Elizabeth Pearsall Lippincott

How do state politics affect your neighborhood?

For starters, politics pays a lot of mortgages in my neighborhood, which is full of Legislative staffers and politicos. Seriously, it’s like the rest of Texas — my older neighbors are worried about health care and the high cost of prescription medications, young parents are worried about the quality of our public schools, and our growing Latino community is worried about the increasingly hostile debate over immigration.

Do you have any ambition for higher office? Do you have plans to run for any party office, or possibly even public office?

I have tremendous respect for Texans who make the sacrifices inherent in public service, but it’s not on my radar screen.

Who are some of your political heroes?

Ann Richards is absolutely a hero, as she is for so many Texans, especially women of all ages. Former State Senator Temple Dickson, a Shakespeare-quoting prophet from West Texas, who I was lucky enough to work for during my first session at the Capitol. Corny as it may sound, Juan Garcia, who juggles family, professional and military responsibilities in order to serve the people of Texas in a time of great need.

What would you say has been the single most defining moment in your political life?

A brilliant, brisk day in January 1991, marching up Congress Avenue to the Capitol with hundreds of friends, campaign workers and Texans of every shape and color when Ann Richards became Governor. Another Bush war was about to start, but we believed in “The New Texas” and for a little while, it was real.

What are you looking forward to in the coming cycle?

The latest chapter in the great American political saga. People have been waiting for this moment since November 2004, and you could say that a lot of us have even been waiting since November 2000.

You can feel the energy, at least on the Democratic side, at every level of the ballot. I can almost hear both sides yelling, “Game on!”