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08/27/2018 07:59 AM EDT


By Nolan D. McCaskill (nmccaskill@politico.com or @NolanDMcCaskill)

MCSALLY PIVOTS TO NOVEMBER -- Arizona's primary is Tuesday, but Rep. Martha McSally has already turned the page to the general election. McSally is the front-runner in a three-person race with former state Sen. Kelli Ward and former Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio, who have challenged McSally on immigration and support for President Donald Trump. Nevertheless, McSally insists the Senate GOP primary hasn't been "difficult" or "hard." "We've been focused on the general election," she said. "We had a Democrat super PAC try to take us out, [and] fought back for a couple weeks. That's what this primary story is and we're going to crush it on Tuesday night."

"A comfortable primary win for McSally, a two-term House member who was the first American female fighter pilot to fly in combat, would be a critical checkpoint in the GOP's midterm strategy," James Arkin reports from Tucson, Arizona. "Her backers believe she is the only Republican candidate who can defeat [the presumed Democratic nominee, Rep. Kyrsten] Sinema, and a loss would jeopardize the party's slim 51-seat Senate majority." But Democrats argue that McSally's primary has dragged her to the right on immigration and Trump, complicating her general election prospects in a state Trump won by less than 4 percentage points. More: http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=3d7212c1302dd0d1b742d9864edfed0bd056a5a0cdff1048bac7163e4ff98412915bd84de80f906595c674234828e856

Democrats are also fretting that the primary for McSally's House seat will threaten the party's prospects for winning one of the most competitive seats in the nation, Elena Schneider reports: http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=3d7212c1302dd0d1a371b56cb944aab255956212eae706810c25b6919a61714245dc0cbede07f1d41bc1c81ce6addbf5

CAN DEMS RESCUE NELSON? -- Sen. Bill Nelson (D-Fla.) stepped in to give Sen. Claire McCaskill (D-Mo.) the Heimlich -- albeit unsuccessfully -- after she began to choke at a caucus lunch earlier this summer. Now Democrats believe he's the one choking and wonder whether anyone can save him in his reelection bid against Florida Gov. Rick Scott. Nelson is being vastly outspent, and Florida Democrats worry that he hasn't been visible enough, prompting concern that national Democrats could accept defeat and pull out of the nation's most expensive battleground to invest in more competitive races.

Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) maintains that Nelson is "in a very strong position." "But Republicans are defining the 75-year-old Nelson as anything but strong," Burgess and Marc Caputo report. "They're mocking him as past his prime, an attack Nelson's campaign calls as ageist as it is inaccurate. And Republicans have relentlessly criticized Nelson for asserting some Florida counties' voter registration systems have been 'penetrated' by Russia -- a claim he hasn't backed up." A look at Florida's likely general election matchup ahead of Tuesday's primary: http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=3d7212c1302dd0d14e0ac033cbf287c0ca3ba935211ce7da99fc2b936b9dd8efbb9894abffe3ccb6fd44250f148439f9

Related: "In Florida Senate race, Rick Scott treads carefully around Trump," by ABC News' John Verhovek and Lissette Rodriguez: http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=3d7212c1302dd0d1530524475cf32e7819b677bcb7eab1afa09fbf3cc5d2e03b8a9c36704910e9eee671eccce950c1cf and "In Democratic New Jersey, Senate race is surprisingly tight," from The Associated Press' Mike Catalini: http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=3d7212c1302dd0d1f93f3314d2184497878764c0662a701b4f074d88d66d358508f1195a3c8186cee6a19f837a76f0ac

MCCAIN WILL LIE IN STATE -- Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) announced that the late Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.), who died Saturday after a long battle with brain cancer, will lie in state in the Capitol Rotunda. He will also receive a full dress funeral at the Washington National Cathedral and lie in state at the Arizona Capitol before his burial at the U.S. Naval Academy in Annapolis, Maryland. Presidents George W. Bush and Barack Obama have been asked to deliver eulogies at his funeral. President Donald Trump is not expected to attend, but Vice President Mike Pence is. More: http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=3d7212c1302dd0d120ccb8e5e02286a94026464a2a6bfdc26be0d50fe9730dd934482937b8d226c12076024716cb5ab9

Related read: "Trump rejected plans for a White House statement praising McCain," via The Washington Post's Josh Dawsey: http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=3d7212c1302dd0d18e6f05007da1882b5b5a02391c24a6b334460560cb43b940b08b26d75c0833d7ae54bda14f9c8d0d

GOOD MORNING! Thanks for reading Huddle, the play-by-play guide to all things Capitol Hill, on this Monday, Aug. 27.

FRIDAY'S MOST CLICKED: Alex Isenstadt's report on Rep. Martha McSally's (R-Ariz.) new ad targeting Rep. Kyrsten Sinema (D-Ariz.) for protesting in a pink tutu after 9/11 rather than serving in the military was the winner.

Join POLITICO on Friday for a special Playbook Elections event in Pennsylvania to discuss the 2018 midterm cycle and issues shaping the races. RSVP HERE.

THE TWISTS AND TURNS OF THE CANADA-U.S. TRADE RELATIONSHIP. POLITICO Pro Canada, launching Sept. 12, will provide news and analysis on the impact of U.S policy to the Canada-U.S. economic and trade relationship. Pro's binational reporting team will deliver must-read policy intelligence for business and policy professionals with cross-border interests. Learn more.

MCCAIN SENATE OFFICE BUILDING -- Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) plans to introduce a resolution to rename Russell Senate Office Building after McCain. "Nothing will overcome the loss of Senator McCain, but so that generations remember him I will be introducing a resolution to rename the Russell building after him," Schumer said. Russell is currently named after former Sen. Richard Brevard Russell (D-Ga.). "Schumer's call to rename the storied Senate office building after McCain was a nod to the deep, bipartisan friendships McCain amassed throughout his career in the Senate," CNN's Lauren Fox writes. Fellow Sen. Jeff Flake (R-Ariz.) supports the resolution. More:
http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=3d7212c1302dd0d13191001ebb056936e3adf99a51242abd9d0f05747de13c59b644f40bc754fd7b5cb345c687bf82fa

Related: "Congressional colleagues mourn McCain: 'The nation is in tears,'" per Bres: http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=3d7212c1302dd0d1566be8f9dea5a4e5cccf7b2c6230b8645441473d52050cbc1cbebcb6364621f18028f2c121c7e6dc and POLITICO's obit from Bres and Austin Wright: http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=3d7212c1302dd0d1e9c8dadada7d8f634fc3369455c414c91474b5887202796f00b5882a7ccd83e7c679151c7bfd9444

DUCEY'S DECISION -- Arizona Gov. Doug Ducey will name McCain's successor, but not until the senator is laid to rest. "With Republicans clinging to a 50-49 Senate majority, hearings on the Supreme Court nominee Brett M. Kavanaugh looming and Mr. Trump under intensifying legal scrutiny, Gov. Ducey's choice carries enormous implications in Washington," The New York Times Jonathan Martin notes. "And it is coming at a moment, in Arizona and beyond, when the Republican Party has rallied to the sort of nationalist and at-times nativist politics that Mr. Trump embodies and Mr. McCain scorned."

The appointee will serve until a 2020 special election is held to fill the remainder of McCain's term. Ducey, who is running for reelection this year, is likely to name someone who intends to run for a full term. Potential appointees include McCain's widow, Cindy; former Sen. Jon Kyl (R-Ariz.); former Reps. John Shadegg (R-Ariz.) and Matt Salmon (R-Ariz.); former state legislator and Ducey aide Kirk Adams; state Treasurer Eileen Klein; state Board of Regents member Karrin Taylor Robson; and business executive and former U.S. Ambassador to Finland Barbara Barrett. More: http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=3d7212c1302dd0d1d8ca152c1f2367e8172a3b0ec95cdc7d75ae8bec6524fb8b66893bb2c1092f5ac40578631827020c

Related read: "John McCain's death overshadows U.S. Senate primary," by the Arizona Republic's Yvonne Wingett Sanchez and Ronald J. Hansen: http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=3d7212c1302dd0d148dd301b2e9aac0237e106b2bed644c91747590b3b2e82e6e5cfcb6184476c3245861d3d18cf2dfc

SCHIFF RESISTS IMPEACHMENT PUSH -- Rep. Adam Schiff (D-Calif.), the top Democrat on the House Intelligence Committee, encouraged Democrats not to talk about or embrace impeaching the president before special counsel Robert Mueller releases findings from his investigation. "Impeachment is a political standard," Schiff told CNN's Jake Tapper on "State of the Union." "Impeachment is, at any given time, what half of the House and two-thirds of the Senate say it is. And given the dearth of people in the GOP who are willing to say anything about this president's conduct, I think you're going to need a really powerful case to entertain that kind of a sanction." More:
http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=3d7212c1302dd0d1c0a008efa675e445ee081da7a442633b6d37063b1c84d643c8b19b920db56c9d9e13f929f54af61a

INVESTIGATIONS APLENTY -- House Oversight Committee Democrats have asked the panel's Republicans to issue subpoenas related to the administration's conduct 52 times since Trump's inauguration. Republicans rebuffed every request, but those subpoenas would be approved if Democrats win back the House. "Vigorous use of the subpoena power, which was granted to Congress to oversee the executive branch, could bring real attention to the many stories of inept governance, malicious policy and outright corruption that seem to bubble up as brief controversies, only to sink under the flood of the president's Twitter froth," HuffPost's Paul Blumenthal reports. A list of subpoenas that would likely go
out: http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=3d7212c1302dd0d1e79c5ee881443f9539ae9bcd9d9ddf8007c55475a9e3a7fe8b7a18ff6651e03408e48010eb29cac5

CMR OPEN TO BACKING JORDAN FOR SPEAKER -- House GOP Conference Chairwoman Cathy McMorris Rodgers (R-Wash.) said she has talked to both Republican speaker candidates -- Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) and conservative Freedom Caucus co-founder Jim Jordan (R-Ohio) -- but is "staying open." Though she acknowledged allegations that Jordan knew of sexual abuse that occurred while he coached wrestling at Ohio State are "serious" and she wants to see the results of that ongoing investigation, McMorris Rodgers said she hasn't committed to supporting either candidate because "I really believe that it's premature for us to be jockeying for leadership positions when we need to focus on our
races." More: http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=3d7212c1302dd0d1846883d47b64430823bc9efa98bcd588e4b2abd97d8f28a266b7eb659aab8a56c7b3f472b20525c7

SHAMELESS -- Hill Republicans say privately that Rep. Duncan Hunter's (R-Calif.) conduct is shameless. The indicted congressman who claimed his innocence and blamed his wife for any potential misuse of campaign funds "has more than half a dozen Hill Republican lawmakers and aides shaking their heads," Rachael reports. One senior House Republican even predicted a looming divorce. And Democrat Ammar Campa-Najjar is seizing on Hunter's defense, calling his excuse another example of his "toxic masculinity." Hunter, for his part, has also called the investigation a political "witch hunt" and accused prosecutors of altering text messages to frame him.

"Hunter is facing serious jail time. And winning over Republican voters over won't necessarily protect him in a courtroom," Rachael continues. "But it's Hunter choice to go after the mother of his children that has raised some eyebrows. The two, notably, did not show up to court together when they entered not guilty pleas, arriving instead in separate cars -- even as their legal cases are linked." Sources tell Rachael the Hunters have had a rocky relationship for a while, given the campaign finance issue and allegations of infidelity. More: http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=3d7212c1302dd0d145910628ee78a61ec80eddbd6b654464b32d407f4ef430b4e5d9f2aa0ba0c5b9730bf0f71141c130

Related: "Hard Partying and a Corruption Scandal: Duncan Hunter's Political Life Unravels," from The New York Times' Tim Arango, Adam Nagourney and Jose A. Del Real: http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=3d7212c1302dd0d10d5e8411b56bab25a698025cef0a8816c7102afd3b50b4cc42b390715758e537e9d0a87f97db8dff

TODAY IN CONGRESS -- The Senate meets at 4 p.m. to resume consideration of HHS assistant secretary for family support nominee Lynn A. Johnson. At 5:30 p.m., the chamber will hold a procedural vote on Johnson's nomination. The House is out.

FRIDAY'S TRIVIA WINNER -- William Black was first to correctly guess that Tennessee Rep. David "Davy" Crockett was the congressman who died fighting for Texas' independence at the Alamo after losing reelection.

TODAY'S TRIVIA -- From William: Who was the House speaker whose daughter was a star of the silver screen and said to be the inspiration for the character Cruella De Vil? The first person to correctly guess gets a mention in the next edition of Huddle. Send your best guess my way: nmccaskill@politico.com.

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