I had the pleasure of experiencing Buc-ee’s Beaver Nuggets for the first time on a recent road trip. It’s an experience I’ll get to repeat soon as the popular chain of ginormous gas stations and convenience stores expands into my adopted home state of Arkansas, among other places. It’ll be interesting to see if the midterm election results affect those expansion plans, as Buc-ee’s president and co-founder Arch “Beaver” Aplin III has expressed a desire to avoid blue states, according to Fox Business.
At the grand opening of a new location in Benton, Arkansas, Aplin said:
“I’m starting to realize life’s too short to try to build in places that people don’t appreciate what you’re bringing, versus a place like this where people do appreciate what you are building,” he said.
Conservative states typically promote business-friendly and family-oriented policies that align with Buc-ee’s values, Aplin said.
“That leadership, that concept, that idea of conservative, business-friendly, family-oriented concept works so much better if it trickles down from the very leadership from the top at the governor’s office, at the congressman, at senator, at the mayor, the representatives,” he said.
The thing is, Aplin no longer has that choice. The blue tsunami of the midterm election has turned several states formerly controlled by Republicans over to the Democrats at many of those levels, and in some cases all of them.
No home court advantage
The most notable upset from the election is right in Buc-ee’s home state of Texas. President Trump hand-picked the scandal-ridden Ken Paxton to run against Democratic contender James Talarico for U.S. Senate, pushing out incumbent Republican John Cornyn during the primaries (maybe he won’t be able to steal the Space Shuttle after all). Elon Musk invested more than $200 million backing Paxton’s election campaign. Despite all that, Talarico won, making him the first Democratic Senator from Texas since 1993. Ted Cruz remains in the Senate, but possibly only because he wasn’t up for re-election this year.
It’s not just the Senate, either. Governor Greg Abbott lost re-election to Democrat Gina Hinojosa, and the Texas House gained a slight Democratic majority as well. Buc-ee’s now finds itself deeply entrenched and headquartered in a blue state, as unlikely as it was for Texas to flip like this. If Buc-ee’s really doesn’t want to do business in blue states, it’s going to have to find a new home. So will Elon Musk, for that matter, just five years after fleeing California for the same reason.
Beyond Texas
Where else could Buc-ee’s move? Some states remain solidly Republican, such as Alabama, Florida, Kentucky, and Tennessee, and would likely welcome Buc-ee’s “business-friendly and family-oriented values.” Missouri remained red, though Democrat Fred Wellman flipped a House seat held by incumbent Ann Wagner.
In Arkansas, where Aplin made his comments back in August, Senator Tom Cotton, who encourages using your car as a weapon, remains in office. Opponent Hallie Shoffner ran a strong race based on the issues farmers are facing rather than the Trump Administration’s culture wars. Even in crimson red Arkansas, every single county shifted more toward Democrats than in the 2024 presidential election, according to the Associated Press.
Other states besides Texas flipped from Republican to Democrat as well. In Arizona, Democrats will hold the state house, senate, and governor for the first time in 60 years. The Colorado House flipped from a 50/50 split to seven of eight seats going to Democrats. In Ohio, Amy Acton beat DOGE conspirator Vivek Ramaswamy for governor despite (or perhaps because of) a last-minute attack campaign against Acton featuring her estranged mother. The state house flipped Democrat, and Sherrod Brown ousted incumbent Republican Senator Jon Husted.
Democrat Keisha Lance Bottoms will be not only the first Black woman elected governor of Georgia, but of any U.S. state ever. Similarly, the Mississippi Senate race (at the time of writing) remains too close to call, because Scott Colom holds a 0.1% lead over Republican incumbent Cindy Hyde-Smith. If Colom wins, he’ll be the first Democrat Senator for Mississippi in 40 years, and the state’s first Black Senator since Hiram R. Revels, who became the country’s first Black Senator ever in 1870.
We’ll have to wait and see whether this big blue tsunami has any effects on Buc-ee’s expansion plans, as well as plans in states where it currently exists. Our own Brad Brownell called it the sickness at the heart of America, yet even he can’t stop himself from loving it. And while I wouldn’t call myself a beaver believer, I may have to take a motorcycle ride over to Benton for some barbecue and more Beaver Nuggets.
