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By Elena Schneider | 03/09/2016 10:00 AM EDT


With Kevin Robillard, Theodoric Meyer, and Scott Bland

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)

TRUMP TAKES MORE STATES - "Trump romps, Cruz gets on the board," by POLITICO's Nahal Toosi: "Donald Trump crushed his rivals on Tuesday, handily winning Michigan and Mississippi and dealing body blows to Ted Cruz and John Kasich - as well as a Republican establishment desperate to stop him. Cruz managed to score one upset, winning in Idaho. But the math was on Trump's side. The real estate mogul's victories added dozens of delegates to his increasingly insurmountable lead in the march up to the big winner-take-all contests in Ohio and Florida next week - and served to squash fervent hope among anti-Trump forces that his weekend losses signaled lasting vulnerability. ... And in Hawaii, Trump
trounced them all again - not only beating Cruz and Kasich in a state they weren't expected to win but leaving Marco Rubio in third place and in danger of netting zero delegates on the night. ... Now, still winless, the Ohio governor is under pressure along with Rubio, whose poor showing Tuesday simply adds to a narrative of a campaign on life support - frustrating establishment Republicans who recognize they are running out of time and options." http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=9ad7696a2e8adf83e5bc83a8193c4e89654f5c54719591af366160a0f403a39f

SANDERS TAKES MICHIGAN - Sanders stuns Clinton in Michigan," by POLITICO's Gabriel Debenedetti in Detroit: "Bernie Sanders scored one of the biggest victories of his underdog campaign Tuesday by beating Hillary Clinton in Michigan, a delegate-rich state where she led by double digits in the closing days before voting. The 2-point upset came after both candidates invested time and money in the state, and fuels the argument from Sanders' camp that he should not be written off after Clinton's earlier wins. The outcome in Michigan is significant for Sanders because it demonstrates an ability to compete in diverse primary states - counteracting a knock frequently leveled at him by Clinton allies
that he has only performed well in largely white states." http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=9ad7696a2e8adf837a07bbfecebc6c9fe907f32f9c752a8787eaf9b58d83336e

CONGRESSIONAL CRUISE CONTROL - "Mississippi House incumbents win primaries easily," by Campaign Pro's Scott Bland: "GOP Reps. Gregg Harper and Trent Kelly both won their primaries easily in Mississippi last night, and Democratic Rep. Bennie Thompson and GOP Rep. Steven Palazzo were unopposed in the fourth state to hold its congressional primary this year." See the results here: http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=9ad7696a2e8adf830dfd5d7b3f3597d85a263c5b6d70c5e8f548dffb043d0e48

KENTUCKY DEMOCRATS HOLD ON - "Democrats increase their state House majority in special elections," by the Lexington Herald-Leader's Jack Brammer and John Cheves: "Democrats won three of four House seats up for grabs in Tuesday's special election, increasing their majority status in the House chamber by one for the rest of the 2016 General Assembly ... The House will have 53 Democrats and 47 Republicans through the fall elections. It is the final state legislative chamber in the South to remain in Democratic control, and it is the last bastion of Democratic Party power in Kentucky, which otherwise has been trending Republican in state and federal elections."
http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=9ad7696a2e8adf8341212cab42e4643801c4d74d52f585e504ba448c4bb017b7

- NEXT UP - Democratic Legislative Campaign Committee targeting two special elections in next six weeks: DLCC executive director Jessica Post highlighted state Senate specials in Maine in three weeks and New York in six weeks in a post-Kentucky memo. "Democrats are in a 15-20 minority in the Maine Senate," Post writes. "This chamber presents a top-tier opportunity to pick up a Democratic majority in November. Holding SD 32 in the March 29 special election is crucial to achieving that goal. ... A win in the New York SD 9 special election on April 19 could potentially flip the chamber from Republican to Democratic majority." (New York's state Senate has a coalition majority.) Read the full
memo here. http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=9ad7696a2e8adf83caf56f98891c2000628a8720cab5e06b5becb0c64343824a

Days until the 2016 election: 246. 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 kcheney@politico.com.

You can also follow us on Twitter, where we tweet a lot about campaigns and occasionally about limited imaginations: @politicoscott, @ec_schneider, @politicokevin, @theodoricmeyer and @kyledcheney.

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UP ON THE AIRWAVES - "Senate Majority PAC is starting a new TV buy in New Hampshire today worth about $210,000, according to a media-tracking source. The new ad run goes from March 9 to March 15. The Democratic super PAC will spend just under $195,000 on WMUR and slightly more than $15,000 on WBIN, according to the source." Ayotte started her own $300,000 TV buy last week. http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=ed57c1cbc80e9b76b58bf56677b1501f2db451be28eb85011f9584ad4e014844

- DOUBLING DOWN - The EMILY's List super PAC is putting another $1 million behind Rep. Donna Edwards, who's drawn closer to top rival Rep. Chris Van Hollen in recent polls in the Democratic primary, The Baltimore Sun reported. The group will increase its overall investment to $2.4 million. http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=ed57c1cbc80e9b76ffed5bf1e7147cbb5350a97831ffbc0ecd7c2b79f0cf88a8

- POLLING DATA - Van Hollen 42, Edwards 41 in Maryland: "Reps. Chris Van Hollen and Donna Edwards remain deadlocked in Maryland's Democratic Senate primary, according to the latest poll out this morning. Van Hollen won 42 percent support while Edwards took 41 percent in the Gonzales Research & Marketing Strategies poll." More here: http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=ed57c1cbc80e9b76e361ee883fe7f7d418e21f7e0e11705ca61e8c493b3e262b

JUDGE-MENT DAY - "Dems tout Grassley challenger amid SCOTUS standoff," by POLITICO's Seung Min Kim: "Senate Democrats are showcasing Chuck Grassley's new Democratic challenger this week as they continue to hammer away at the Judiciary Committee chairman for vowing to block hearings on a future Supreme Court nominee. Former Iowa Lt. Gov. Patty Judge, who declared last week that she'll challenge Grassley as he seeks his seventh term in office, dropped by the Democrats' weekly party lunch on Tuesday. In a brief interview with a handful of reporters before the lunch, Judge warned that she'll continue to press the Supreme Court obstruction issue back in Iowa once a nominee is named and argued
that Grassley's position was hurting him politically." http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=ed57c1cbc80e9b76a06171e37b209efdd0524d9808abb1de3d69d40612fd0f9f

POOR CHOICE OF WORDS - "NRSC deletes tweet attacking Tammy Duckworth for 'not standing up for our veterans,'" by Campaign Pro's Elena Schneider: "The National Republican Senatorial Committee tweeted Tuesday that Illinois Senate Democratic candidate Tammy Duckworth, who lost both her legs while serving in the Iraq War, "has a sad record of not standing up for our veterans." Her campaign shot back immediately, calling the tweet "tasteless and dishonest, just like everything else to do with Mark Kirk's flailing campaign." The NRSC deleted the tweet within minutes of posting it. ..."It would be great if reporters would pay as much attention to a deleted tweet as they should to Tammy Duckworth
being sued by VA whistleblowers for ignoring claims of mistreatment and corruption," said Andrea Bozek, spokeswoman for the NRSC."

PRESIDENTIAL SPEED READ - "Worried GOP scrambles to adjust odds against Trump," by POLITICO's Alex Isenstadt: "Behind the scenes, campaigns are deep into preparation for a possible contested convention. Kasich, still winless after losing Michigan on Tuesday, has tapped Jai Chabria, a longtime aide and loyalist, to help oversee his Cleveland planning. Rubio, with just two victories under his belt, has selected Henry Barbour, an influential RNC committeeman from Mississippi. ... To some, it won't be possible to tell whether Republicans are headed to a contested convention until March 15. On that day, 367 delegates - nearly 15 percent of all the party's delegates - will be awarded. A Trump win
in Florida and Ohio, many contend, would give him an insurmountable lead. ... In the event the race does go to a convention, there's disagreement over how it would play out - and whether it would help Trump or hurt him." http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=ed57c1cbc80e9b76b21cc873e1b103328e0b7813bf1b11c2f44ee6e2ef54651c

- "Most GOP senators appear ready to back Trump, but plenty would rather not talk about it," by The Washington Post's Amber Phillips, with an excellent graphic: "...primary results this past week have forced Senate Republicans to come to terms with the fact that the man who could cost them control of the chamber - and for some of them, their jobs - may well be their party's nominee for president. Such a scenario leaves most of the 54 Senate Republicans with an impossible decision: Do they support the presidential candidate Republican voters chose, even though it may cost some of them their jobs? ... By our count, the slightest majority - 29 of 54 - have indicated they will support the
Republican nominee even if it's Trump." http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=ed57c1cbc80e9b76c84d749040a659168a3b1dcc801bb0ec40e2343757f737a3

- "Ted Cruz's prospects ascendant, though perhaps not with Senate peers," by The New York Times' Jennifer Steinhauer: " ... Interviews with a dozen Republican senators on Tuesday morning failed to yield a single endorsement for Mr. Cruz ... Some senators simply said they would support whoever won the nomination. Others smiled wanly, as if wishing they had superpowers that could remove them from the scene." http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=ed57c1cbc80e9b76eca476887cda52244c412677d3e2bc398e38847a2012eee1

- "Carl Paladino bullies NY GOP House members to back Donald Trump," by the Syracuse Post-Standard's Mark Weiner: "Billionaire developer Carl Paladino ... said in an interview that he will use email to rally his supporters against New York's Republican members of Congress who have remained neutral in the presidential race. Paladino, who ran an insurgent campaign to capture the GOP nomination for New York governor in 2010, said the emails will become increasingly personal in the coming weeks ... Of New York's nine House Republicans, only Rep. Chris Collins ... has endorsed Trump - becoming the first member of Congress to back him. Paladino said he sent an email blast to 50,000 supporters on
Tuesday after a series of unsuccessful phone calls to convince New York's eight other Republican House members to support Trump. ... Paladino told Syracuse.com that he will start targeting individual members of Congress with critical emails, starting in the next 24 hours with a note about freshman U.S. Rep. Elise Stefanik." http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=ed57c1cbc80e9b76e9a7d343b100126ecf2278dcf2eab837e26527547f26f669

- LET'S GET DIGITAL - FIRST IN SCORE: OHIO DEMS HIT KASICH ON CHARTERS: The Ohio Democratic Party is releasing a web ad attacking Gov. John Kasich one week before the state's presidential primary. The digital ad, "Cooked," dregs up a scandal where a top aide at the state Department of Education - who is also married to Kasich's presidential campaign manager - "illegally scrubbed" data to make charter schools in Ohio look better. Watch the ad here: http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=ed57c1cbc80e9b76202b352507e1cfa717c121a7b093dcb07c4a4e0d4fa9ff4b

CODA - QUOTE OF THE DAY: "Paul O'Neill is going to be devastated when he finds out that's not George Steinbrenner." - Missouri Senate candidate Jason Kander (D), tweeting about the former New York Yankees outfielder's appearance at Donald Trump's Tuesday night press conference.

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