Good morning!

As it turns out, your fellow readers have definite preferences when it comes to preparing the Thanksgiving turkey. The results of yesterday’s One Click Survey can be found at the conclusion of today's Texas Minute.

– Michael Quinn Sullivan 

Wednesday, November 3, 2021
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But First…

• Joe Biden and the Democrats’ radical policy agenda was wildly rejected last night by voters in Democrat-leaning Virginia. Sic Semper Tyrannis, as their state motto goes.
      
• As it turns out, being against parental involvement in schools is a really-really-really-really-really bad policy position to take. The Democrats also loudly and proudly made the state’s gubernatorial race a referendum on Critical Race Theory… and voters obliged.
      
• A bad night for Democrats is a good night for liberty.

Federal Judge: Law Prohibits Drive-Thru Voting

• In a 2-1 decision, federal judges dismissed a lawsuit challenging the use of “drive-thru” voting in Texas elections by declaring the case moot, meaning the issues have been resolved. As Erin Anderson reports, Harris County election officials who came up with the scheme to let everyone vote from their cars during 2020 are continuing the extralegal practice.
     
• “Reasonable people can disagree about the wisdom or folly of drive-through voting. The place for that debate is in the Legislature,” Judge Andrew Oldham wrote in his dissent. “Once the dispute enters our courts, however, the only question is what the law commands. And the law could not be clearer in its prohibition of Harris County’s conduct.”
   
• Harris County’s previous election chief – Texas Democrat Party official Chris Hollins – invented the process of in-vehicle voting last year, ostensibly as a COVID safety measure. It resulted in a discrepancy of more than 1,800 votes cast by drive-thru voters.
   
• Harris County Elections Administrator Isabel Longoria opened 16 drive-thru voting locations during early voting for the November 2021 constitutional amendments election.

Republican Lujan Wins Special House Election

• Republican John Lujan has reclaimed the Texas House District 118 seat he held in 2016, defeating Democrat Frank Ramirez in a special runoff election Tuesday with 51 percent of the vote. 
   
• Lujan fills the unexpired term of former State Rep. Leo Pacheco (D–San Antonio), who resigned in August to take a teaching job at San Antonio College. Lujan finished first in a five-way special election in September to replace Pacheco but failed to win a majority of the votes, leading to Tuesday’s runoff.
   

• In January 2016, Lujan won a special election in the reliably Democrat district. He then lost two successive general elections for the seat to Democrats: Tomas Uresti in 2016 and Pacheco in 2018.

Voters Adopt All 8 Propositions

• The unofficial results from last night’s election show Texas voters giving their collective approval to all 8 ballot propositions amending the state constitution. Jeramy Kitchen has the story. (See the individual percentage results below.)
      
• Since the Texas Constitution was adopted in 1876, state lawmakers have proposed 687 amendment to the voters – who in turn approved 507 of them. Only 180 constitutional amendments in Texas’ history have been defeated. 

Austin Voters Reject Police Funding

• After a record killing spree and violent crime binge on the streets of Austin, local voters turned down a citizen-driven proposal to restore law enforcement programs cut by the city council. Jacob Asmussen reports the city’s efforts came at the height of the Democrats’ “defund” movement.
     
• Specifically, the city’s Proposition A would have reformed and added adequate police officers to the severely shorthanded department.
      
• “We are now at 1,540 available police officers, down from 1,959 authorized strength and 1,800 available just two years ago,” said Matt Mackowiak, co-founder of citizen group Save Austin Now, the leader of the Proposition A effort. “We will be at 1998 police staffing levels by the end of the year, when our city was 25 percent as large as we are today.”
     
• The Democrat-run council opposed Proposition A, and as the election fight unfolded this fall out-of-state mega-donors such as far-left New York billionaire George Soros poured hundreds of thousands of dollars to stop the citizen-led campaign, including posting grossly misleading signs throughout the city.

Statewide Proposition Results

Amendments to the Texas Constitution…

Y’All Answered

Taking a break from questions on politics and policy, yesterday we asked how folks preferred their Thanksgiving turkey prepared. Roasting the turkey came out on top, with 59.3 percent, followed by 24 percent who prefer a smoked bird and 16.7 percent who deep fry it. 

Here’s a sampling of the responses…

• “I chose ‘deep fried’ because that's my favorite prepared turkey to eat. My favorite way to prepare turkey is for someone else to do it!” – Machelle Morris
        

• “You asked the best way to prepare a turkey. Gently stroke its head while quietly saying, ‘I'm from the government and everything is going to be OK.’ If it believes you, it is definitely a turkey.” – Clint Pruett
         

• “Deep fried turkeys are the best when eaten while they are still hot! Fresh peanut oil is the best!” – Carol Dean
        

• “Roasted turkey with cornbread dressing and giblet gravy and don’t forget the pecan pie.” – Garry Ludwig
      
• “Keep the oven roasted bird moist. Apply lots of butter on and under the skin. Season to taste, place in a roasting bag and slow roast away.” – Jennifer Herr
      
• “Being from Tyler, home of the Greenberg Smoked Turkey, it's hard to beat a good ol' smoked turkey from Greenberg's. But a juicy, deep fried turkey is a real Thanksgiving treat. Plus, it only takes an hour or so for a twenty pound sized bird to cook. I’m getting hungry just thinking about it!” – Steve Nulf
        

• “Roasting the turkey breast-side down results in MUCH juicier white meat! Mmmm….can almost taste it now!” – Rick Cotton
       

• “I enjoy smoking in general.  The right seasoning – can be anything from just salt and pepper to cajun seasoning (Kenny's seasonings are very good and he is from Wichita Falls, Texas) – rubbed in well with a butter injection or jalapeno butter for a more spicy flavor are essential. Then slow smoking keeps the turkey moist and full of flavor!” – Roger Taylor
       

• “I actually like turkey any way you can cook it! I chose roasted because it reminds me of my Grandmother making Thanksgiving dinner. This is my favorite holiday of the year. I miss those old days. Even though at the time being a child, I couldn’t wait to be grown. Wish I was a kid again!” – Chris Bradbury
       

• “I like to roast my turkey completely wrapped in bacon. You achieve the smoked turkey flavor along with moist meat.” – Donna Bronsema
       

• “Not really a recipe. We cover it with a Bacon blanket. Stuff a few apples and an orange in the cavity. Delicious and juicy.” – David Allen
      

• “My parents are both from El Salvador; they came years ago before I was born. We make the turkey the way it is made in their country. My mom gets spices and ingredients from El Salvador that is made into a thick juice/base. Then the turkey is cooked in the juice/base for about 8-10 hours. Once the turkey is ready we have the turkey in sandwich form. We buy bolillos and stuff the bolillo with lettuce, cucumbers, tomatoes, radishes, and the turkey with juice poured on top. It can get very messy but tastes AMAZING!! It’s called Panes Con Pavo.” – Kathy Villafuerte

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