For over 30 years as a litigation analyst in the insurance industry I dealt with a great many very high profile cases in both state and federal court. Generally speaking, state court judges were pretty piss poor, and the vast majority were politicians first; and we ALWAYS tried to get the case removed to federal court, if the controversy warranted it, as the caliber of judges in federal court was far superior.
I can tell you as an attorney licensed in 3 states that has not been my personal experience. Could also be dependent on which states we are referring to, however. It could also be a difference in specialty.