It is a disease, and it won't go away until everyone stops playing the game of trying to legislate competitive advantage. Some of the worst complainers about protectionism unfortunately are the biggest players. Example: I remember when Gibson complained about their factories being raided, reportedly for using illegal timber (an environmental regulation that some also view as protectionism courtesy of the Pacific Northwest timber industry). It got a lot of press, but my initial reaction was one of schadenfreude. Because Gibson was notorious for playing their own "protectionism" game courtesy of a lot of dubious patent / copyright lawsuits on various competitors (eg Paul Reed Smith, Warmoth, Elderly), virtual rock band games (Guitar Hero and Rock Band), Paper Jamz guitars, and probably others I can't recall at the time.
I.e. that's a large number of small political donors in your state (highly motivated to donate to your opponents) vs one big corp in another state, plus of course rationally ignorant consumer/voters.
A lot of anti-competitive law in the US is not "big vs small". Many of the biggies are small vs small or even small vs big - occupational licensing, exclusionary zoning, agricultural laws, lots of state level regulations designed to protect (not very large) incumbents.
Sadly protectionism is a widespread plague that doesn't fit any easy narratives.