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By Theodoric Meyer | 12/15/2016 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)

OUT OF CONTENTION - "Tester ally pushed Zinke for Interior secretary," by Campaign Pro's Kevin Robillard: "An ally of Sen. Jon Tester (D-Mont.) proved influential in President-elect Donald Trump's decision to tap GOP Rep. Ryan Zinke as Interior secretary - a decision that will take Zinke out of contention for a planned run against Tester in 2018 if Zinke accepts the job, sources say. Donald Trump Jr., an avid hunter and a lifetime member of the group Backcountry Hunters and Anglers, was involved in the interview process for Interior secretary and cited information from the group, a source familiar with the process said. A PAC and nonprofit run by Backcountry Hunters and Anglers' leader,
Land Tawney, spent millions helping Tester win reelection in 2012."

- "The sportsmen's group backed Zinke for the Cabinet post since and took a hard line against Rep. Cathy McMorris Rodgers (R-Wash.), another candidate for the position, in press releases issued in recent weeks. The Associated Press reported that Montana GOP Sen. Steve Daines also recommended Zinke to Trump Jr. while he was in Montana on a hunting trip last month. But the source familiar with the meeting between Trump and McMorris Rodgers said the president-elect's son 'repeatedly' and 'consistently' brought up Backcountry Hunters and Anglers' opposition to her appointment. (Trump's transition team did not respond to a request for comment.)" Full story.

LOOKING AHEAD - "End Citizens United regroups for 2018," by Campaign Pro's Theodoric Meyer: "End Citizens United PAC's goals seemed tantalizingly within reach earlier this year. But like so many pro-Democratic political groups, the PAC suffered a massive setback on Election Day, and it is now regrouping to try and manage a step forward sometime in the next two years. The PAC was founded to back Democrats who support campaign finance reform, and the vacancy on the U.S. Supreme Court gave the group hope that a Democratic Senate and president would install a justice who might overturn the rulings, including Citizens United, that have eased campaign finance regulations in recent years. Instead,
the group is on Thursday launching a new 'Hold Trump Accountable' initiative to pressure the president-elect on his pledge to 'drain the swamp,' if that doesn't include campaign finance reform. And the PAC's staff is mulling concentrating its spending in fewer races in the next midterm election to boost its effectiveness." Full story.

Days until the 2017 election: 327.

Days until the 2018 election: 691.

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

You can also follow those of us who aren't still on post-election vacation (cough, Elena Schneider, cough) on Twitter: @politicoscott, @ec_schneider, @politicokevin, @theodoricmeyer and @maggieseverns.

PROGRAMMING NOTE - Morning Score will soon take a newsletter hiatus for the holidays. We'll be off for two weeks starting Dec. 19. We'll resume publishing on Jan. 3.

DOING SOMETHING? SAY SOMETHING - Starting or joining a new consulting firm? Got work to tout from your current firm? Get in touch, and we'll get it in Score: tmeyer@politico.com.

CHAIRMANSHIP STRUGGLE - "Ellison calls for '3,007-county strategy' in DNC bid," by The Washington Post's David Weigel: "Rep. Keith Ellison (D-Minn.) rallied with Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) on Wednesday night, taking over a room of the American Federation of Teachers in Washington, D.C., to pitch his "bottom-up" campaign to run the Democratic National Committee. 'We need a 3,007-county strategy. We need a town strategy. We need a precinct strategy,' said Ellison, as Sanders and AFT President Randi Weingarten looked on proudly. "The resources need to be moved down closer to the voter.'" In his remarks, Sanders took "a subtle swipe at [Labor Secretary Tom] Perez, [an Ellison rival] who'd
taken the Obama administration's position on trade: "Unlike some of the other candidates who are running for chair, Keith knew from day one that the TPP was a disaster." Full story.

LEGISLATIVE LEVERAGE - "Lawmakers look to limit Cooper's power as governor," by The Raleigh News & Observer's Craig Jarvis and Colin Campbell: Republican lawmakers in North Carolina have "proposed sweeping changes to state government, including proposals that would diminish the governor's authority to make appointments. Lawmakers want to hobble the incoming Democratic governor, Roy Cooper, before he takes office Jan. 1 by making his Cabinet appointments subject to approval by the state Senate and cutting his ability to appoint members to state election boards, the state Board of Education and the UNC Board of Trustees. Another proposal in the mix would equally divide election boards between
the two major political parties, ending control by the governor's party."

- "Of the two dozen bills filed by both Republicans and Democrats on Wednesday night, only a handful are likely to be voted on during this special session. ... 'I think to be candid with you, that you will see the General Assembly look to reassert its constitutional authority in areas that may have been previously delegated to the executive branch,' House Rules Committee Chairman David Lewis told reporters earlier in the day, adding that legislators will 'work to establish that we are going to continue to be a relevant party in governing this state.' [But] House Democratic Leader Larry Hall of Durham said Republicans were trying to 'nullify the vote of the people' in electing Cooper, who
defeated Republican Gov. Pat McCrory last month." Full story.

WITH A LITTLE HELP FROM MY FRIENDS - "Millionaire Rep.-elect Trey Hollingsworth asking for help with campaign debts," by The Indianapolis Star's Maureen Groppe: "Incoming Indiana Congressman and multimillionaire Trey Hollingsworth is asking his new colleagues for donations to repay nearly a quarter-million dollars he owes to his pollster and other political consultants. Hollingsworth, who moved from Tennessee shortly before launching his congressional bid in Southern Indiana, spent more than $3 million of his own money on his race and his father spent another $1.5 million through a super PAC he created to help Hollingsworth win Indiana's 9th Congressional District. But he still owes
$246,246 to his pollster and other political consultants. ... The NRCC, the campaign arm of House Republicans, recently included Hollingsworth on a list of candidates with campaign debt that the NRCC is asking GOP lawmakers to help." Full story.

ANNALS OF ELECTION LAW - Marc Elias, the Clinton campaign's top lawyer, has a new Medium piece on what was learned from the concluded recounts initiated by Jill Stein's campaign in Michigan, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin, which he writes "have confirmed some of what we expected, but exposed problems with our system of post-election review of elections." Here's the full piece.

PRESIDENTIAL SPEED READ - "Libertarians emerging as Trump resistance," by POLITICO's Katie Glueck: "There were the warnings against flag-burning, the threats of tariffs, and the intervention in Carrier manufacturing negotiations. And now, there's the possible appointment of ultra-hawkish John Bolton to a top role at the State Department. Donald Trump's transition is raising flag after red flag for libertarians, a Republican-leaning group that in turn has emerged as a vocal, frequent thorn in the side of the incoming administration even as some previous 'Never Trumpers' have gone dark. And with Sen. Rand Paul's power to bog down Trump's nominees, the libertarian movement sees tangible
opportunities to make their influence felt." Full story.

- "Trump's businesses could trip insider-trading law," by POLITICO's Isaac Arnsdorf: "Democrats are exploring a new strategy to pressure Donald Trump over his business conflicts of interest, arguing that an insider trading law would make it a crime for him to profit on information he learns as president. The STOCK Act, adopted in 2012, was designed to restrict insider trading by members of Congress and their staff. But ethics lawyers say it also applies to the president and might extend to private holdings like Trump's real estate ventures. Rep. Louise Slaughter of New York, who co-sponsored the law, is having her staff meet with outside experts and Democrats on the House Oversight
Committee this week to study how the law could apply to Trump's White House." Full story.

- "Trump transition says request for names of climate scientists was 'not authorized," by The Washington Post's Chris Mooney and Juliet Eilperin: "The Trump transition team appeared to back away from a controversial questionnaire sent to the Energy Department last week that had asked for the names of department staffers who had worked on several climate-change initiatives under President Barack Obama. 'The questionnaire was not authorized or part of our standard protocol,' Trump's transition team said in a statement to The Washington Post. 'The person who sent it has been properly counseled.'" Full story.

CODA - QUOTE OF THE DAY: "There is something to be said for one of the top diplomats in the country being diplomatic." - Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.), on John Bolton, whom Paul has said he'll vote against if President-elect Donald Trump nominates Bolton as the No. 2 at the State Department (via The New York Times).

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