I've somewhat recently been to some fairly small cities in both of those states and while I'll agree that Texas had some of the worst drivers I've ever seen, the areas I went to didn't look pitifully run down unlike Louisiana. Of course much of this is just anecdotal since I only went to a few locations in both states, but every single Louisiana city I saw felt much more morbid and sullen to me than any city I saw in Texas.

As far as policies go, I'll agree that I don't think they're making great policy choices in Texas but I also think they get more headlines than Louisiana which (from my very limited experience) appears to just quietly sink further into poverty.