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Good morning,

Please take a moment on this Veterans Day to think about the men and women who have served in our nation's armed forces. They generally don't expect to be thanked... but we should, anyway.

This is the Texas Minute for Monday, Nov. 11, 2024.

– Michael Quinn Sullivan 

‘Monumental’ Win: Republicans Flip 23 Texas Appeals Court Seats

• Republicans flipped 23 Democrat-held seats in five appellate courts across Texas, winning 25 of 26 contested courts of appeals races on last week's General Election ballot. Erin Anderson reports the shift was one of the most consequential—and unexpected—results of the November 5 election.
      
• Republican State Rep.-elect Mitch Little, an attorney, described the victories as "monumental," adding that the GOP sweep will transform appellate jurisprudence in Texas.
     
• The most dramatic change happened in the Fifth Court of Appeals in Dallas, where Republican candidates flipped seven seats, including the chief justice. The appellate court moved from a 12-1 Democrat majority to an 8-5 Republican majority.

Texas Democrat Party Chair Resigns After Major Electoral Losses

• Despite regular claims that Texas has been on the verge of “turning blue” for more than a decade, Democrats have failed to secure a statewide victory in 30 years. Brandon Waltens reports that the latest victim of the party's electoral malaise is its chairman, who is resigning over Democrats' performance at the ballot box.
      
• Gilberto Hinojosa was first elected to the role in 2012. His tenure has been marked by major Democrat losses, particularly among Hispanic voters. In Tuesday’s election, President Donald Trump won Texas by more than 13 points, including victories in 12 of the state’s 14 border counties.
           
• The day after the election, Hinojosa attributed the party’s loss partially to its focus on transgender issues and radical gender ideology.

Paxton Sues Dallas Doctor for Prescribing Cross-sex Hormones to Children

• Attorney General Ken Paxton has filed a lawsuit against Dr. M. Brett Cooper for illegally providing over a dozen children with cross-sex hormones. Cooper is an assistant professor of Pediatrics at UT Southwestern. He also has hospital privileges at the Children’s Medical Center Dallas.
   
• Addie Hovland reports the man is accused of prescribing cross-sex hormones to 15 children ranging in age from 14 to 17 years old as recently as early October.
     
• Paxton filed two similar lawsuits last month against doctors in El Paso and Dallas.
       
• Since September 2023, doctors in Texas have been prohibited from prescribing children puberty blockers and cross-sex hormones for the purpose of “gender transitions.”

Court Halts Biden-Harris Administration ‘Parole in Place’ Scheme

• A coalition of 16 states led by Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton have won a lawsuit against the Biden-Harris administration, halting a federal parole program aimed at allowing 1.3 million illegal aliens to remain in the United States. Emily Medeiros has the details.
     
• Known as “parole in place,” the Biden-Harris administration rule unveiled earlier this year gave an avenue for illegal aliens in the country for 10 or more years to receive a grant of parole if married to a U.S. citizen. Generally, those in the country illegally must leave and then attempt to return legally through a port of entry.
     
• Out of the 1.3 million illegal aliens set for parole under the scheme, the Department of Homeland Security estimated the program would benefit 200,000 illegal aliens residing in Texas.
      
• A federal judge ruled the administration lacked statutory authority to grant “parole in place” to illegal aliens.
      
• “I look forward to the day when the federal government starts following the law again.” – Ken Paxton

Hutto Council Rejects Proposal to Put Noncitizens on City Boards

• Hutto City Council members rejected a proposal to allow noncitizens to serve on local boards and commissions.
     
• The proposal was put forward by Hutto Mayor Pro Tem Peter Gordon, who serves on the Hutto Independent School District’s "Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Committee." Gordon said he wanted to allow noncitizens to serve on the city's Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Belonging Commission.
     
• In the end, the council decided to leave intact the current city policy of requiring all board members to be registered voters and, thus, citizens.

Today In History

On Nov. 11, 1918, the Great War—World War I—came to an official end.

Quote-Unquote

"America must win this war. Therefore, I will work, I will save, I will sacrifice, I will endure, I will fight cheerfully and do my utmost, as if the issue of the whole struggle depended on me alone."

– Martin Treptow​

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