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By Elena Schneider | 02/13/2017 10:00 AM EDT


The following newsletter is an abridged version of Campaign Pro's Morning Score. For an earlier morning read on exponentially more races - and for a more comprehensive aggregation of the day's most important campaign news - sign up for Campaign Pro today. (http://www.politicopro.com/proinfo)

FIRST IN SCORE - "American Action Network launches year-long digital ad campaign geared toward Obamacare fight," by Campaign Pro's Elena Schneider: "American Action Network is rolling out a year-long digital ad campaign to pressure 50 House members to support the GOP effort to repeal and replace Obamacare, a first for the nonprofit group, which is aligned with House Republican leadership. The ads will appear under Google and Bing searches for the targeted lawmakers, and represent a sustained effort to leverage the 2018 midterms in a bid to influence the legislative battle to dismantle the Affordable Care Act. The list of targeted members includes vulnerable Democrats - some in districts
President Donald Trump won in 2016 - and Republicans in swing districts. A handful of Republicans in key leadership positions will also be singled out, including House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy. One ad, zeroing in on Rep. Salud Carbajal (D-Calif.), reads: 'Tell Rep. Carbajal - Replace Obamacare. We deserve a plan that offers more choices, better coverage and lower costs.' The ad directs people to a website, 'A Better Health Care Plan,' where visitors are asked to provide their email address." Full story.

COMING SOON - Castro to decide on Senate run in 8 weeks: Rep. Joaquin Castro (D-Texas) told reporters he will announce in two months whether he will challenge GOP Sen. Ted Cruz, The Austin American-Statesman reported. "'Ted Cruz has not spent a single day working for the people of Texas,' said Castro, who will also travel to Houston and Dallas as he makes up his mind about a race. 'Ted Cruz tunes out most of Texas,'" the report continued. Castro also said that his twin brother, Julián, the former secretary of Housing and Urban Development, would not run against Texas Republican Gov. Greg Abbott in 2018 but instead would spend the next six or nine months writing a book. Fellow
Democratic Rep. Beto O'Rourke, who represents El Paso, also said he's interested in running against Cruz.

- Michigan Lt. Gov. Brian Calley, a Republican, weighed in on his statewide ambitions, telling MLive, "I'm flattered when it comes up. For now I'm going to stay focused on the work at hand because there's a lot of work to do, but stay tuned."

AIR WAR - GA-06 gets its first TV ad, echoes Trump: Republican businessman Bob Gray, who's running to replace Georgia Rep. Tom Price, released his first TV ad, which will air starting today on cable stations throughout the district as the first installment in a six-figure ad buy. "I believe in the American dream but we are going to have to get our nation back on track. We are going to have to drain the swamp," Gray says in the ad. "I believe we need to send citizens to DC - not attorneys and not politicians - who will be there for a short period of time, solve problems and then go home. I'm a businessman and a family man. Others will call me an 'Outsider.'" The ad closes with the line,
"Together, we can make America great again." Watch the ad here.

2020 SPECULATION DEPARTMENT - "Hillary Clinton Is Running Again," by POLITICO Magazine's Matt Latimer: "Hillary Clinton will run for president. Again. No inside information informs this prediction. No argument is advanced as to whether her run is a good or a bad idea - there are many ways to make a case either way. Instead, this is just a statement of simple facts (if facts mean anything anymore, that is). And the facts are clear that the former secretary of State is doing everything she needs to do to run for the White House one more time. If she finds a path to do so, she will take it. And I can prove it." Full story.

Days until the 2017 election: 267.

Days until the 2018 election: 632.

Thanks for joining us. You can email tips to the Campaign Pro team at sbland@politico.com, eschneider@politico.com, krobillard@politico.com and dstrauss@politico.com.

You can also follow us on Twitter, where we tweet about campaigns and a 650-pound pig: @politicoscott, @ec_schneider, @politicokevin and @danielstrauss4.

FIRST IN SCORE - DLCC announces new staff: The Democratic Legislative Campaign Committee is bringing on three new staffers: Josh Handelman, national finance director for Katie McGinty's Senate race, will serve as DLCC's national development director. Jacob Dusseau - who's managed eight campaigns, including Rep. Julia Brownley's 2014 reelection - will be director of Legislative Majority PAC, the DLCC's affiliated super PAC. And Josie Bradley, who worked as the Iowa Democratic Party caucus director, will be the DLCC's associate political director. The Legislative Majority PAC will also expand its work in 2017 to "play a lead role in competitive special elections across the country," per a
memo from the group. The DLCC's Grassroots Victory Program will also expand to "60 [candidate] trainings around the country, leading to the training of over 500 staffers to recruit 600,000 volunteers, resulting in over 20 million voter contact attempts."

FIRST IN SCORE - TRANSITIONS: Tom Schultz, former data director for Ted Cruz's presidential bid, is heading to the Club for Growth as its new vice president of analytics.

CASH RACE - NRCC tops DCCC in January fundraising: The DCCC raised $7.8 million in January, falling short of the NRCC's $10 million over the same period, which marked its "largest ever haul for the first month of the year," per Roll Call. The DCCC finished the month with $9.9 million in the bank.

- Kander's voting rights group raised $110,000 in first 24 hours, via Campaign Pro's Daniel Strauss: "Former Missouri Secretary of State Jason Kander's new voting rights group raised over $100,000 in the first 24 hours after it went active. Kander, the Democratic Senate nominee who unsuccessfully challenged incumbent Republican Roy Blunt in 2016, raised $110,000 from 2,200 contributions in the first 24 hours after he launched Let America Vote on Tuesday. The group aims to curb voter suppression. Kander said the money came without any solicitation for donations." Full story.

'FAIR-HAIRED FAVORITE' - "Republicans think they've found the ideal candidate for governor. So why isn't Kevin Faulconer interested?" The Los Angeles Times' Mark Z. Barabak: "...At age 50, comfortably ensconced in his second term, Faulconer has emerged as the fair-haired favorite of California Republicans desperate for a serious candidate to run for governor in 2018, when term limits finally end the Jerry Brown era. In many ways, the leader of California's second-most-populous city seems an ideal prospect. ...There's just one problem: Faulconer insists he's not interested. He swore during his 2016 reelection campaign he would serve all four years as mayor and he's not backing off that
pledge. Still ironclad? 'It is,' he replied in an interview this week in his City Hall office." Full story.

SIGN OF THE TIMES - State senator name-drops Trump: Georgia state Sen. Michael Williams, who's eyeing a statewide bid for secretary of state, names Trump in a robocall to 400,000 Republican households, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reported. "As the first Georgia elected official to endorse Donald Trump, I'm proud of the incredible work he's done so far," Williams said. BTW, Williams' robocall included his personal cell phone number.

GETTING THE NOD - EMILY's List endorses 9 Senate Democrats for reelection: "EMILY's List announced [Friday] it's backing nine female Democratic senators for reelection in 2018. The group is supporting Tammy Baldwin of Wisconsin, Claire McCaskill of Missouri, Amy Klobuchar of Minnesota and Debbie Stabenow of Michigan, all of whom could face tight fights for reelection. President Donald Trump won all of those states except for Minnesota in November. It's also backing five senators in solidly blue states: Dianne Feinstein of California, Kirsten Gillibrand of New York, Maria Cantwell of Washington state, Mazie Hirono of Hawaii and Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts. Not on the list of endorsed
candidates? North Dakota's Heidi Heitkamp. As a female Democratic senator who generally supports abortion rights, Heitkamp fits the group's criteria for an endorsement, but she won without the group's backing in 2012. Trump won North Dakota with 65 percent of the vote in the general. The 10 women on the ballot make up more than half of the Democratic women in the Senate." Full story.

POLLING DATA - Progressive group poll shows red-state Democrats' constituents oppose Mnuchin, via POLITICO's Victoria Guida: "The Progressive Change Campaign Committee is urging Democratic senators up for reelection in 2018 to oppose the nomination of Steven Mnuchin as Treasury secretary, pointing to polling that shows a majority of voters oppose him in seven red states where Democrats are under threat. ... Voters in Ohio, Wisconsin, Delaware and Florida said they would oppose Mnuchin, at percentages ranging from 67 percent to 70 percent, if they 'learned Steve Mnuchin submitted inaccurate information to the U.S. Senate, and hid $100 million of his wealth from the committee charged with
approving or denying his nomination.'" Full story.

STAFFING UP - NRCC announces more moves: The House Republican committee rolled out additional communications and political staff announcements, per a memo from the group. Chris Pack, who served as a regional press secretary in 2016, will now be deputy communications director; Maddie Anderson and Jack Pandol have been named regional press secretaries; Kerry Rom will be director of media affairs; and Bradley Leonard will take on the role of director of content. That's not all. Abby Camp will be deputy press secretary and Brendon Del Toro will serve as deputy political director while Chasen Bullock, Mike Thom, Anthony Pileggi and Tyler Foote will be regional political directors. Chris Broyles
will be field finance director and Meredith Allen, last but not least, will serve as political coordinator.

ADMINISTRATION SPEED READ - "Trump reviews top White House staff after tumultuous start," by POLITICO's Josh Dawsey and Alex Isenstadt: "President Donald Trump, frustrated over his administration's rocky start, is complaining to friends and allies about some of his most senior aides - leading to questions about whether he is mulling an early staff shakeup. Trump has told several people that he is particularly displeased with national security adviser Michael Flynn over reports that he had top-secret discussions with Russian officials about and lied about it. ...Yet Trump's concern goes beyond his embattled national security adviser, according to conversations with more than a dozen people
who have spoken to Trump or his top aides. He has mused aloud about press secretary Sean Spicer, asking specific questions to confidants about how they think he's doing behind the podium. During conversations with Spicer, the president has occasionally expressed unhappiness with how his press secretary is talking about some matters - sometimes pointing out even small things he's doing that he doesn't like. Others who've talked with the president have begun to wonder about the future of Chief of Staff Reince Priebus. Several Trump campaign aides have begun to draft lists of possible Priebus replacements, with senior White House aides Kellyanne Conway and Rick Dearborn and lobbyist David
Urban among those mentioned." Full Story.

- "The husband-and-wife team driving Trump's national security policy," by POLITICO's Eli Stokols, Bryan Bender and Michael Crowley: "Before they became a Trump administration power couple, Sebastian and Katharine Gorka were prolific collaborators on research about the Islamic terrorist threat who built a fan base in far-right circles. ... In the decade since earning his doctorate, Sebastian has vaulted into the heart of the American national-security apparatus. At the White House, Gorka - who was born in Britain and became a U.S. citizen in 2012 - is a deputy assistant to the president. He reports to strategist Steve Bannon and includes the Strategic Initiatives Group, Bannon's in-house
think tank, in his email signature. Trump reviews top White House staff after tumultuous startThat appointment, which includes a portfolio focusing on terrorism and national security, has befuddled mainstream counterterrorism experts, who recognize Gorka from his Fox News appearances but not as an influential thinker. 'He is hardcore,' said retired Army Colonel Joseph Collins, a professor at the National Defense University who worked with Sebastian Gorka when he taught there. 'He came at the issue from the ideological route.'" Full Story.

- "Turmoil at the National Security Council, From the Top Down," by The New York Times' David E. Sanger, Eric Schmitt and Peter Baker: "These are chaotic and anxious days inside the National Security Council, the traditional center of management for a president's dealings with an uncertain world. Three weeks into the Trump administration, council staff members get up in the morning, read President Trump's Twitter posts and struggle to make policy to fit them. Most are kept in the dark about what Mr. Trump tells foreign leaders in his phone calls. Some staff members have turned to encrypted communications to talk with their colleagues, after hearing that Mr. Trump's top advisers are
considering an 'insider threat' program that could result in monitoring cellphones and emails for leaks. The national security adviser, Michael T. Flynn, has hunkered down since investigators began looking into what, exactly, he told the Russian ambassador to the United States about the lifting of sanctions imposed in the last days of the Obama administration, and whether he misled Vice President Mike Pence about those conversations. His survival in the job may hang in the balance." Full story.

CODA - QUOTE OF THE DAY: "Politics has changed. It's really time to take sides," said Evan Falchuk, whose "2014 run for governor put the political party he founded [United Independent Party] on the Massachusetts map, is now a Democrat, eschewing his third party in favor of a coordinated effort to combat President Trump's agenda," The Boston Globe reported.

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