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Buc-ee’s says what other companies won’t: Conservative states are better for business.
The massive travel center chain’s founder and CEO Arch “Beaver” Aplin III made headlines Aug. 17 by saying that his company will primarily build new locations in conservative states.
“We’re growing — we’re building in a lot of places,” Aplin said at the opening of a new store in Benton, Arkansas. “When you find a conservative, business-friendly state with a phenomenal workforce, it makes a difference. And I’m starting to realize life’s too short to try and build in places that people don’t appreciate what you’re bringing.”
Aplin’s remarks may seem politically aimed, but he’s only saying something all business leaders know, regardless of party affiliation: Businesses do better in red states, where it’s cheaper and easier to run a business.
Aplin’s comments received immediate backlash from liberals who threatened to boycott the company. The backlash almost universally attacked Aplin, who donates to Republican political campaigns, enforces rules against tattoos and body piercings among Buc-ee’s employees, and maintains a conservative-friendly atmosphere at Buc-ee’s with lots of meat, American flags, and cowboy hats.
A woman with over 200,000 followers on X went viral for posting a video entitled “Buc-ee’s travel center says No More Liberals!!!” Her suggestion to travelers was to “drive right by Buc-ee’s, do not pull into Buc-ee’s, he doesn’t want our liberal blue dollars.” The main accusation is that Aplin, being a bigoted conservative, only wants to build in red states to further his simple-minded agenda.
But this is not the case. Aplin may be a conservative and supports candidates he agrees with, but building in Republican states isn’t necessarily political — it’s a smart move for businesses.
The states with the lowest corporate tax rates, including Texas, Florida, Wyoming, and South Dakota, are all red states. These states also have few government restrictions on business. People start businesses to make money, and if you’re trying to make money in the most efficient way, you don’t want the government reaching into your pocket or putting obstacles in your way.
This is exactly why, in recent years, especially during the early 2020s when the federal government bloated substantially, hordes of businesses left traditional hubs of industry like Los Angeles and New York City and moved to conservative states. According to a study from CB Richard Ellis, also known as the CBRE Group, 164 businesses relocated their headquarters in 2025, part of an overall surge in corporate relocations between 2020 and now, with the majority leaving blue states for red states.
Many of these companies still boast their liberal agendas while moving to conservative states to save money. American Airlines, for example, opposes Republican bills that limit voting and LGBT rights. Nonetheless, the airline is based in Fort Worth, Texas, where it enjoys no corporate income tax and few government restrictions in the heavily conservative state.
It’s an ironically hypocritical move for liberal companies to align with liberal policies to avoid getting cancelled — fully knowing if liberal candidates were elected, their businesses would become more costly to run. Buc-ee’s is simply honest with us.
Further, Buc-ee’s has been practicing this from its inception, and it has worked well for them. Founded in 1982, the company has since grown substantially while still remaining in business-friendly states. Out of the 56 active Buc-ee’s locations around the country, only three are in consistently blue states like Virginia and Colorado, and only seven are in states with a corporate tax rate above 6%. Texas, which has no corporate income tax or personal income tax, is home to nearly two-thirds of all Buc-ee’s locations.
Lowered governmental restrictions have always led to business booming. The tax cuts and governmental size and spending cuts of the Calvin Coolidge and Ronald Reagan eras led to some of the greatest economic prosperity the U.S. has ever known. It’s simple economics — people respond to incentives, and when the government incentivizes entrepreneurship and the growth of corporations, the economy will thrive. Businesses get greater return on investments, new jobs are created, and inflation slows.
This is what Aplin means when he says that he doesn’t want to build in places where his work isn’t “appreciated.” In spite of what they claim, states like California and New York refuse to “appreciate” businesses, instead suffocating them with heavy regulations and high taxes. Florida and Texas, low-tax conservative states, continue to be breeding grounds for new small businesses and start-ups, with Florida currently leading the nation in new business applications, according to the Business Observer.
Evidently, even the liberal companies know that conservative states are better for business, since they too are flocking to red states. They just won’t admit it. Buc-ee’s will.
Patrick Hennessey is a freshman studying the liberal arts
