Roughly 40 percent of Plano is dry, barring the sale of alcohol in retail stores. The city approved beer and wine sales in 1977, but all land annexed since then requires its own legislation to get moist. To ensure success, Davies did his politicking early. "We went and talked to a lot of special-interest groups early in the planning stages," he says. "We have had not one single solitary [element of] major opposition, including from the people that normally oppose everything." This electoral binging was sparked by legislation passed this summer by state lawmakers liberalizing requirements for Texas wet-dry elections, considered the most onerous in the nation. Rules under the new legislation mandate each municipality collect signatures from 35 percent of all voters who voted in the last gubernatorial election within 60 days. Old rules were far more stringent, requiring petitioners to collect signatures from 25 percent of registered voters in each municipality within 30 days. Plus, signatures had to exactly match the scribbles on the signatory's voter registration card, including middle and/or maiden names. Texas has 254 counties, 89 percent of which are designated "dry" or "partial wet." Only 28 counties are currently considered all "wet," which is perhaps where the whole state is headed. We'll vote to that.