Is texas really so conservative/traditional??

Is Texas so conservative- (at least for the time being)- as many pundits and observers claim?  Or is that just  an opinion not supported by analysis and facts? Not only does Texas vote Republican in many elections but has done so for many years.  It is also  a birthplace of the so called Tea Party movement and of Ron Paul’s campaigns for president. Texas also appears to espouse conservative approaches to government and to issues.  You will need to define in a concrete and operational way what conservative means as conservative is more thsan voting behavior or party affiliation. 

 Texas is the 2ndlargest state in population compared to California and .like California made up of  many differing migrant and immigrant groups. Texas like California was also part of Northern Mexico.  but Texas is  very, very different from California in voting behavior and positions on social issues. Why? Texas and California are good  comparisons  or are they?  Provide  explanations  of the differences and similarities in this ideological context 

Texas was once “Democratic” but even that was not really the case in terms of either past or current Democratic ideals and goals but a historic reaction to the consequences of the civil war and the fact that Texas was on the losing   side in that war and of the attempt to defend agrarian interests in the form of slavery..  Being Democratic from post civil war to the middle of the 20th century  in part meant for decades being in favor of inequality for minorities and defenders in spirit, if not in fact, of slavery.net

So Texas was never  “Democratic” and never a more liberal interpretation of reality but a reflection of conservative thought and a particular view of individualistic man.

Is Texas conservative and why?  ( you will need a social, cultural, historical and economic analysis here with supporting evidence)??  Need much more than opinions here.