Staff with the Republican Party of Iowa have uploaded a video to youtube showing the top Republican in the Iowa legislature racing at the Jackson County Fair on Sunday night.
House Speaker Kraig Paulsen of Hiawatha raced a yellow school bus in what was billed as the “Night Destruction” bus race. One of the required elements in the 10-lap race was driving the bus over a huge bump and the video shows Paulsen’s bus teetering on two wheels once it came back to earth, but Paulsen was quickly able to get the bus back on all fours and he wound up finishing in second place.
Earlier this year Paulsen told reporters he is a NASCAR fan and his favorite driver is Mark Martin. Paulsen’s comments in mid-February came as legislators were drafting bills that granted state tax breaks to the race tracks in Newton and Knoxville.
Dave Schrader, a Democrat from Monroe who is a former House leader, used to race stock cars and Schrader often said the experience drove home a lesson that translated well to politics: always stay focused on the task at hand.