It’s a Sunday night in Waukee 24 hours before the Iowa Caucuses, and Asa Hutchinson is in a dogfight for first place – when his daughter Sarah throws yet another strike.
Hutchinson is an accomplished bowler who can put just the right amount of spin on his custom ball to knock down ten pins, or frequently pick up a spare when he needs to.
The presidential candidate has made bowling a bit of a tradition during his political career, which included stints as a congressman, US attorney, governor of Arkansas, and executive branch official.
‘I bowled the night before my first election for governor in 2014. I had one of the best games I ever had. I think a bowled like a 190-something that night,’ he said in between rolls at Warrior Lanes outside Des Moines. ‘I knew I was heading for a good night.’
The signs on Sunday weren’t pointing toward victory, in a race where Donald Trump is dominating his rivals. Hutchinson is polling below 1 per cent in the polls.
Presidential candidate Asa Hutchinson spent his last night before the Iowa Caucuses bowling with family and staff
He has persisted despite the odds with a campaign that started in snowy Iowa a year ago, sometimes having to improvise ways to connect with voters in the final days of the campaign. A few days ago, that meant driving through a blizzard and phoning supporters one at a time from his SUV. On Friday, it meant spontaneously popping by the ‘world’s toughest rodeo’ when his campaign realized it had a connection to a rodeo clown who hailed from Charleston, Arkansas. That earned him an announcement on the event's loudspeaker.
With the outcome now in the hands of Iowa caucus-goers, Hutchinson scheduled some time on the lanes with family, staff and a few supporters, inviting DailyMail.com an a few photographers along.
It wasn’t an event that got him time pressing the flesh with a new batch of caucus-goers, although Hutchinson did talk about bowling as a ‘blue collar sport.’ The candidate reserved a trio of lanes and let other patrons keep to themselves.
Mainly, he just wanted to bowl.
Joining him for the outing were wife Susan – whose a father captured the national duck pin bowling championship in 1956 – and daughter Sarah, who purchased the multi-colored bespoke 15-pound ball that he used to smash pins at the other end of the lane.
He was in a duel with daughter Sarah at Warrior lanes in Waukee
Hutchinson is an accomplished bowler who can often pick up a spare when he needs to
Thrill of victory: DailyMail.com followed Hutchinson as he rolled several strikes
The candidate is proud of his spin roll. Winning over Iowa Republicans in a race dominated by Donald Trump has been a challenge
Although he might not break into the top three or even the top four in Iowa, Hutchinson is enough of a political pro to know how to draw an analogy between two of his passions without throwing a gutter ball.
'To score well, you’ve got to string together some good frames. That's like stringing a few good states together. And it's okay if you have a couple open frames. You can still score well. That's very similar to the election this year. You don't have to win every primary. But when you start winning, you need to string a few of them together.'
The candidate scores a 125 on his first round. 'It’s not bad, but it’s not good,' says an aide.
Then he's back on the lanes. Huchinson knows how to give the ball just enough of a twist, hurling his ball down the right side of the lane before it makes its way toward the middle. If it knocks the center pin and puts just enough English on it, he'll get a strike.
'I throw a curveball on the first one and sometimes I throw a straight ball on the second one,' he says.
Navigating the first Republican contest of 2024 hasn't come as easily. Ron DeSantis hasn't had much luck trying to hit at Donald Trump from the right. Nikki Haley has been gaining support in Iowa and in New Hampshire, but many of her backers there are independents and Democrats. With Chris Christie out of the race, Hutchinson is the lone candidate who won't promise to pardon Trump if he gets convicted on some of the 91 criminal counts he is facing.
He's got a plane ticket purchased for New Hampshire on Tuesday after the caucuses. But he's not on the ballot in South Carolina, Haley's home state, which charged a hefty $25,000 filing fee.
The son of Hutchinson's Iowa state director changes his name on the digital scorecard from 'Asa' to 'future president.'
That's when his daughter Sarah Hutchinson's game takes off. The younger Hutchinson throw strike after strike, earning props from her dad.
The bowling break came just a day before the caucuses
Hutchinson rolls a custom ball (right, center) that was a gift from his daughter
An aide's son changed his name on the digital scorecard to read 'future president'
In a campaign that featured commentary on Ron DeSantis' boots, the Arkansan has American flag boots of his own
The bowling outing came a day before the results of the Iowa caucuses come in
The bowling night came after Hutchinson capped off his 'return to normal' tour through Iowa
Then in the fifth frame the candidate rolls a strike of his own. 'Alright Sarah, I'm coming back on you,' he taunts.
But it's Sarah who comes up with the win.
He nearly gets another spare but leaves a lone pin standing. 'You missed it by like an inch,' she tells him.
'I'm competitive. I like to win, and she's a good bowler,' her father says.
The bowling alley is in a strip mall near Des Moines where plows have piled up huge mounds of snow. It is closing at 8 pm, and Hutchinson's party is the last to leave. Hutchinson returns to talk of the next day's caucuses when prompted by a reporter.
'My hope is we beat expectations, we break late. It's just like my curve ball – it breaks late – right toward the pocket.'
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