I've had the same experience you've had but with different states than you. IMO it all comes down to a difference in attitude of the people of the state. In some states people generally expect the government to serve the people and of course the pool of people from which the government is staffed is drawn from the state so the government reflects these values. In some states the government is expected to serve its own interested and when you staff a government with people with those expectations that's exactly what you get. If you just throw up your hands at bad government like it's something unchanging to be taken for granted then that's exactly what you'll get.