Those kinds of things happen with unfortunate regularity in EVERY state.
no, its not just 'everywhere'. there are, lets call them 'bermuda triangles of ignorance' in various places in the US (I'm sure other countries have some anti-progressive parts to them). texas is right smack in the center of one of those triangles, so to speak. whenever there is a denial of evolution, texas is often right in the middle of it (or kansas). when its about xenophobia, texas is right there to make the news. when its about closing down womens health clinics, texas takes the lead. pretty much establishing state religion, yup, texas is there for that goal, too.
an elephant in the room is to admit that we have problem areas that have not made the jump from the last century to this one, or even could be from 2 centuries ago.
go visit fark.com and read headlines and look at the locales. do that for a week and see if you notice any recurring patterns. you can really learn a lot from reading news parody-style sites and see all the different views from the posters, all over the world. no one holds back and you see a spectrum of opinions. see how well texas does, even over just a week or two of headlines. compare that to other states. who has the weirdest shit happening. the stuff that drops your jaw. and from what areas of the country is that coming from.
and so, you could start to read headlines, try to guess where its coming from and see how often you guessed right.
and do the whackos have local support? yes! that's what makes it worse. its not just an out-lier. people doing stupid shit in backwater towns (or states) seem to get away with it if its 'part of their heritage'. don't get me started on THAT.