Joni’s June event: Bikes and a pig roast

Joni Ernst has spent less than a week in Washington, but she’s making it clear that she doesn’t intend to forget her roots: in this case, hogs and Harleys.

Ernst’s political action committee, the Jobs, Opportunity and New Ideas or JONI PAC, has sent out a save-the-date for what is certain to become one of the premiere political events in Iowa this summer: “Joni’s 1st Annual Roast and Ride.” Given Ernst’s popularity, it’s hard to imagine any of the prospective GOP presidential candidates turning down an invitation to speak.

The June event is a nod to her famed barnyard ad from last March highlighting her experience castrating hogs as young girl on an Iowa farm — skills, she said, that had prepared her to cut wasteful spending in Washington.

Ernst’s biker-themed ad “Shot” also drew national attention in May, a month before the Iowa primary. She was filmed rolling up to a shooting range in black leather on a Harley-Davidson.

“She’s not your typical candidate,” the narrator intones as Ernst takes off her helmet

“Conservative Joni Ernst: mom, farm girl and a lieutenant colonel who carries more than just lipstick in her purse.”

As Ernst raises the gun and shoots at a target, the narrator continues: “when she sets her sights on Obamacare, Joni’s going to unload.”

The “Roast and Ride,” which is still in the early stages of planning, is reminiscent of former Iowa Sen. Tom Harkin’s Steak Fry, which drew many Democratic presidential candidates to the Hawkeye state for speeches and ceremonial steak flipping over many years.