I can see how this list could become somewhat distorted.
Brazos Bend SP is just SW of Houston, a large metro area with a HUGE population. Many weekend campers in this area rave about BBSP, love going there.
It is convenient, being close by, and well maintained but boring as can be. Not much hiking, no fish to speak of in that pond and offers very little other than a nice place to set up camp and hang around a camp fire wetting your whistle and flapping your gums.
I'll suggest other, much better locations in my opinion, and the response is almost always 'Oh, that's too far'.
So they vote on what they know. I wonder, are the parks disputed here close to large metro areas?