--- title: Ted Cruz's Campaign Is Literally Stuck in the Mud in Iowa description: The Texas Senator found his motorcoach stuck in the muck the day before Iowans go to the caucuses. canonical: https://time.com/4201789/ted-cruz-bus-mud/ author: Philip Elliott article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2016-01-31T23:17:42.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-02-22T14:37:17.543Z article:section: Politics og:title: Ted Cruz's Campaign Is Literally Stuck in the Mud in Iowa og:description: Not the image he needed right now. og:url: https://time.com/4201789/ted-cruz-bus-mud/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt3775d03678f7ef4b/69887b81524fc0b4b6df68a2/screen-shot-2016-01-31-at-6-17-20-pm.png?branch=production&width=2400&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: Ted Cruz campaign bus stuck in the mud in Iowa. og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Ted Cruz's Campaign Is Literally Stuck in the Mud in Iowa twitter:description: Not the image he needed right now. twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt3775d03678f7ef4b/69887b81524fc0b4b6df68a2/screen-shot-2016-01-31-at-6-17-20-pm.png?branch=production&width=2400&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Ted Cruz's Campaign Is Literally Stuck in the Mud in Iowa  by [Philip Elliott / Iowa City, Iowa](https://time.com/author/philip-elliott/)  ## Philip Elliott / Iowa City, Iowa Senior Correspondent Jan 31, 2016 11:17 PM UTC  Ted Cruz campaign bus stuck in the mud in Iowa. Ted Cruz campaign bus stuck in the mud in Iowa.Philip Elliott — TIME  by [Philip Elliott / Iowa City, Iowa](https://time.com/author/philip-elliott/)  ## Philip Elliott / Iowa City, Iowa Senior Correspondent Jan 31, 2016 11:17 PM UTC This was not the image Ted Cruz’s campaign wanted on the eve of the Iowa caucuses: his deluxe campaign tour bus needing a tow. The “Cruzin’ to Victory” motorcoach was quite literally stuck in the mud at the water-logged Johnson County fairground on Sunday. After the rally here, Cruz hopped a ride with aides to his next stop while the shiny tour bus was pulled from the mud. Cruz, who is in a tight race against frontrunner Donald Trump, did not need to look like he needed to be pulled across the finish line. The final poll, released Saturday night, shows him with a possible pathway to a win on Monday night. **Read More:** [_Cruz Limps Toward the Finish Line in Iowa_](http://time.com/4200172/ted-cruz-iowa-final-days/) ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4201789/ted-cruz-bus-mud/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4201789/ted-cruz-bus-mud/"},"headline":"Ted Cruz's Campaign Is Literally Stuck in the Mud in Iowa","datePublished":"2016-01-31T23:17:42.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-22T14:37:17.543Z","description":"The Texas Senator found his motorcoach stuck in the muck the day before Iowans go to the caucuses.","url":"https://time.com/4201789/ted-cruz-bus-mud/","keywords":["ted cruz","republicans","2016 Election topic","Iowa"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt3775d03678f7ef4b/69887b81524fc0b4b6df68a2/screen-shot-2016-01-31-at-6-17-20-pm.png?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Philip Elliott / Iowa City, Iowa"}],"articleSection":"Politics","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt3775d03678f7ef4b/69887b81524fc0b4b6df68a2/screen-shot-2016-01-31-at-6-17-20-pm.png?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Ted Cruz campaign bus stuck in the mud in Iowa.","caption":"Ted Cruz campaign bus stuck in the mud in Iowa.","creditText":"Philip Elliott — TIME","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/politics/","name":"Politics"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/ted-cruz/","name":"ted cruz"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4201789/ted-cruz-bus-mud/","name":"Ted Cruz's Campaign Is Literally Stuck in the Mud in Iowa"}}]}] ```