Americans vote every day. They make their policy choices known in some of the most indisputable ways possible — in how they spend their money, in how they care for their families and even where they live. These are ballots every bit as important as the ones Americans will cast in 2016.

And they’re choosing the Texas way of life.

“From our earliest Colonial origins, Americans have voted with their feet, optimistically seeking greener pastures,” Chuck DeVore of the Texas Public Policy Foundation reports in Forbes magazine. “Today, instead of homesteading raw land, Americans move for work or retirement. Making an interstate move is not undertaken lightly. Every year, a little more than 1 in 50 Americans pick up stakes and move across state lines.”

Many are coming to Texas.

“Every year, the U.S. Census Bureau estimates net domestic migration between the states,” DeVore explains. “From 2011 to 2013, the most recent year for which an estimate is available, Texas, the state rated tops for economic freedom, also saw the greatest net influx of Americans, about 353,000 people, with the largest share of that, some 76,000, coming from California. New York, ranked near the bottom for economic freedom, experienced the greatest net outflow, losing some 361,000 people, the largest share, about 79,000, decamping to Florida.”

The reasons are pretty obvious.

“In spite of growing federal power, states still have significant leeway to set tax and regulatory policy,” he notes. “For instance, top-taxing New York took 12.6 percent of income in state and local taxes in 2011 while lowest-taxing Wyoming took 6.9 percent, according to the Tax Foundation … As for regulations, the Fraser Institute in Canada annually publishes its Economic Freedom of North America report, carefully rating each state for its taxing, spending, and regulatory burden. In 2012, Fraser ranked Texas as the freest U.S. state while Maine ranked last.”

Put simply, DeVore said, “taxes and regulations shape migration, as people naturally seek out the best location to maximize their opportunities.”

This is important to keep in mind as the nation becomes more and more consumed with the 2016 elections. Americans are signaling their desire for more freedom, a lower tax burden and increased opportunity.

Why?

“In many aspects, states are microcosms of the federal government,” DeVore said. “As such, when looking at those who would be elected President in 2016, it is instructive to see what sort of state they governed or, to a lesser extent, represented in the U.S. Senate or live as a citizen.”

That’s something to keep in mind, as polls undulate daily and candidates wander through the minefields of campaigning.

Such a perspective is particularly helpful when many of the GOP candidates are sitting or former governors.

It can give voters great insight on how Rick Perry or John Kasich might govern as president, for example, yet tell us little about political newcomers such as Ben Carson and Carly Fiorina.

And such a perspective should give candidates themselves some guidance. What voters care about these days is freedom and opportunity.