I personally know a lot of right leaning, church going, gun toting, EE/material science/physics/fab-related-field people in Texas. There's plenty of people working highly skilled jobs who don't have that much of a problem with the recent reversal of Roe.

You can technically be highly educated and still be pro gun, anti gay marriage, and pro-life. It's not like learning how silicon crystals form or how electrons move suddenly makes you pro choice.

As a lefty my response is - “and yet Texas is growing and California is shrinking”

Texas seem really good at making places people like to live (lower property crime, lower taxes, fewer homeless, lower income inequality at least compared to CA) even if they lack some of the rights those of us on the other side politically take for granted. Why liberal cities can’t do both is beyond me.

Didn't stop Samsung from building a huge fab business in South Korea, where abortion was technically illegal until last year.

Speaking as a Texas resident who used to work in fabs, you may have a point, but only if they actually do 11 fabs. I think a more realistic interpretation is that there are 11 sites they are considering for fabs (and want to get the government paperwork ball rolling on), of which only a few will be used. Texas does have a tight labor market, but since a lot of the technical hiring would not start for a year or two, I expect that hiring for these fabs (assuming we're talking 2-4, not 11, actually get built) would be challenging, but not too challenging.

there are plenty of people for whom this is either not a deal breaker, is a non issue, or support it. secondly i think this may be a point that breakes the red hold on the state it has been purple for a long time already and this will probably result in quiet the backlash against the right.

The people who are vocal about those issues and share the perspective that you are implying are not the majority. There are lots of people who take the opposite stance on those issues, and the largest group (larger than both of the passionate sides combined) is those who don't really care either way.

I don't foresee a large exodus from Texas. There's been a large inflow during COVID and I don't see people leaving their big houses and cheap CoL. The Twitter crowd screams a lot about these things but if you look at sites like 538 for example, there's been only a minor shift towards Democrats in the polls due to Roe v Wade being overturned. The economy matters a lot more to people than social issues.

I don’t think HN will give you a clear picture on this. Depending on where you ask the question, you will be told it’s a non-issue, or that it’s a very serious issue. I tend to believe it’s a very serious issue for the top-end of the talent chain, but I also believe Texas has never relied on having top-end talent, so maybe it won’t impact them like it would impact California.

$$$ counts for a lot.