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By Zach Montellaro | 09/07/2018 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)

UPSET AVOIDED - Democratic Sen. Tom Carper was able to fend off a challenge from his left in last night's Delaware primaries. Carper defeated Kerri Evelyn Harris, securing 65 percent of the vote to Harris' 35 percent. POLITICO's Steven Shepard, from Wilmington, Del.: It was "a comfortable margin - but an unusually small one for a sitting senator who has been a fixture of his state's politics for longer than his challenger has been alive. 'This is a good win, a solid win,' Carper told supporters at an election night watch party here. 'I want to congratulate Kerri on a good race - a very good race.'

"After the loss, Harris endorsed Carper and cast her campaign as a partial victory, in that it forced the senator to engage or change on certain issues. 'Ongoing, vocal, public support for our progressive values will eventually help shift our legislators towards solving our common concerns,' Harris said to supporters Tuesday night. ... In his speech to supporters, Carper urged Democrats to come together and focus on their common foe: President Donald Trump and his party." Check out the full Delaware primary results here.

SCOTUS WARS - As Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh's time in front of the Senate Judiciary Committee winds down, the Supreme Court air wars have gone hot. The Republican-aligned Judicial Crisis Network went up with a $600,000 national cable buy with an ad that features Kavanaugh's testimony. Meanwhile, Democrats have homed in on 2003 emails leaked to The New York Times, where Kavanaugh wrote that "I am not sure that all legal scholars refer to Roe as the settled law of the land at the Supreme Court level since Court can always overrule its precedent."

Many of the ads are focused in Maine. The abortion-rights group NARAL Pro-Choice America poured an additional $500,000 into a digital and TV ad by in Maine to try to peel off GOP Sen. Susan Collins. The ad features a voter who said she might not be able to back Collins in future elections if she votes for Kavanaugh (liberal activists have already collected north of $500,000 in pledges on Crowdpac that will go to her 2020 opponent if she votes yes on him). One Nation, the nonprofit group tied to Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, has placed at least $204,000 in advertising in Maine on the Supreme Court for Sept 7-27, according to data from Advertising Analytics. Advertising Analytics
also tracks $241,000 in spending in the state from the conservative State Government Leadership Foundation from Sept. 5-18, and the liberal VoteVets released two ads urging Collins to oppose Kavanaugh. POLITICO's Burgess Everett has more on the pressure Collins and Alaska GOP Sen. Lisa Murkowski are facing.

Happy Friday! Do you recall the stress The New York Times' infamous needle caused on election night 2016? Would you like to feel that way all the time? The Times is undertaking a fascinating experiment wherein it will publish results of its polls conducted with Siena College as they come in, in real time, for all to see. As always email me at zmontellaro@politico.com or DM me at @ZachMontellaro.

Email the great Campaign Pro team at sbland@politico.com, eschneider@politico.com, dstrauss@politico.com and jarkin@politico.com and mseverns@politico.com. Follow them on Twitter: @PoliticoScott, @ec_schneider, @DanielStrauss4, @JamesArkin and @MaggieSeverns.

Days until the 2018 election: 60.

Upcoming election dates - Sept. 11: New Hampshire primaries. - Sept. 12: Rhode Island primaries. - Sept. 13: New York (state-level) primaries.

ELECTION SECURITY UPDATE - A big report from the National Academies of Science, Engineering, and Medicine said states should use paper ballots. Cyber Pro's Eric Geller: "In addition, a committee of 14 experts said in the report, Congress should provide states with election security funds 'on an ongoing basis' and expand federal cybersecurity guidelines from just voting machines to voter registration databases, electronic poll books and a range of other election technology. ... The National Academies report also recommended that voting technology vendors be required to tell DHS, the Election Assistance Commission and their customers about 'any detected efforts to probe, tamper with, or
interfere with voter registration systems.'"

POLLS POLLS POLLS - In the Tennessee Senate race, former Democratic Gov. Phil Bredesen has the narrowest of advantages in a poll from NBC News/Marist that has Bredesen at 48 percent and GOP Rep. Marsha Blackburn at 46 percent among likely voters. Republican Bill Lee leads Democrat Karl Dean 53 percent to 40 percent in the governor's race.

- The Georgia gubernatorial race is tied in a poll from Atlanta Journal-Constitution/Channel 2 Action News conducted by University of Georgia's School of Public and International Affairs. The survey showed both Democrat Stacey Abrams and Republican Brian Kemp at 45 percent. The poll was in the field from Aug. 26-Sept. 4 and surveyed 1,020 likely voters.

TRUMP ON THE TRAIL - President Donald Trump hit the trail Thursday night for a rally in Billings, Mont., where he criticized the media and Democratic Sen. Jon Tester while promoting Republican Senate nominee Matt Rosendale. The Great Falls Tribune's Phil Drake: "He accused the New York Times of 'treason' for printing an anonymous column this week critical of him. He said Tester would not deliver the votes that he needs to move forward and that the media was not printing the good things he has accomplished. ... Trump criticized Tester, who is seeking a third term, for releasing allegations that derailed the president's nomination of White House physician Ronny Jackson to lead the Department
of Veterans Affairs."

- GOP Rep. Kevin Cramer's campaign said the president's fundraiser in Fargo, N.D., Friday raised more than $1 million for his Senate bid, The Bismarck Tribune's John Hageman reported.

- Trump is eyeing a return to Phoenix later this month. KTAR: "Jen Yee, assistant executive director with the Arizona Exposition and State Fair, told KTAR News 92.3 FM on Thursday that Trump's camp has asked about using Veterans Memorial Coliseum later this month, but no date was set."

CLINTON ON THE TRAIL - The president's 2016 foe Hillary Clinton is also back on the trail. She'll headline a fundraiser for New Jersey Democratic Sen. Bob Menendez, POLITICO New Jersey's Matt Friedman reported.

FIRST IN SCORE - ON THE AIRWAVES - The Republican Jewish Coalition, which counts casino magistrate Sheldon Adelson among its top funders, is launching a $1 million campaign in North Dakota hitting Democratic Sen. Heidi Heitkamp for her support over the Iran deal. Heitkamp "sided with liberals in her party by supporting the disastrous Iran deal," the ad says. "Those are not our values." The group said it will air for the entirety of September, along with a digital component.

- FIRST IN SCORE - The Congressional Leadership Fund released two ads in Kansas' 3rd District targeting Democrat Sharice Davids, who is challenging GOP Rep. Kevin Yoder, over ICE. "Sharice Davids is lying about her position on illegal immigration," the first ad said, referring to an August report from The Kansas City Star that highlighted her appearance on a podcast where she said she'd defund ICE. The second ad features a testimonial that strikes a similar tone. "Davids would stand with Pelosi to oppose tougher border security," the ad's narrator said. In a statement in the August Star story, Davids said she does not want to abolish ICE.

SNUBBED - Michigan Gov. Rick Snyder - a Republican - is not endorsing anyone in the contest to replace him. WZZM's Phil Dawson: " Not even fellow Republican Bill Schuette. ... Governor Snyder did throw his support behind Lt. Governor Brian Calley in the Republican Gubernatorial Primary, but Calley lost to Schuette. Now Governor Snyder says he is not getting involved in the November race."

ON THE INSIDE - The DCCC has stood up its own in-house digital advertising agency. HuffPost's Kevin Robillard: "The 12-person team, split between media buyers and a creative group, is designed to allow the DCCC to quickly deploy new digital ads and attacks, and is part of the organization's effort to rebuild the Democratic digital infrastructure after the party was badly outspent online during the 2016 election."

TRUMP (JR.) ON THE TRAIL - Donald Trump Jr. will headline a fundraiser for Ohio Republican gubernatorial nominee Mike DeWine. Campaign Pro's Daniel Strauss: "The fundraiser will be held in Salem, Ohio on Sept. 13, according to the invitation ... the same day that former President Barack Obama is set to hold a campaign rally in Cleveland for Democrat Richard Cordray, DeWine's general election opponent."

- He'll also headline a Sept. 24 fundraiser for Cramer's North Dakota Senate bid in Fargo, The Washington Examiner's David Drucker reported.

THOSE EMAILS - Republican Pete Stauber, who is running in Minnesota's 8th District, used his government email to talk with the NRCC. The Minneapolis Star Tribune's J. Patrick Coolican: "The e-mail traffic would appear to be in violation of a St. Louis County policy, which states 'elected officials will not use St. Louis County equipment in support of their own campaigns for re-election, other candidates for public office, or political organizations.' ... St. Louis County responded to a Star Tribune public records request by confirming that there were 15 e-mails to or from the NRCC. The Duluth News Tribune's Brady Slater reported that a county spokesperson said "we proactively reviewed the
emails through the lens of our Code of Conduct for Elected Officials Policy and were satisfied that no investigation or further review was warranted."

WORRIED? ME? - GOP Rep. Scott Taylor, whose staffers are accused of submitting allegedly fraudulent signatures on an independent candidate's nominating petition in Virginia's 2nd District, said he is not worried about his reelection prospects and that he did nothing wrong. National Journal's Ally Mutnik: "'I didn't tell anybody to do anything illegal,' Taylor said in an interview Wednesday just outside the Capitol. 'I would never do that. So I don't care what they say.' ... Taylor acknowledged that he knew his staffers were collecting petitions for Brown but vehemently denied any wrongdoing."

FIRST IN SCORE - ENDORSEMENT CORNER - Everytown for Gun Safety Action Fund is endorsing two Democratic governors: Rhode Island Gov. Gina Raimondo and Oregon Gov. Kate Brown. Both candidates will attend events with Moms Demand Action, the grassroots arm of Everytown.

CODA - QUOTE OF THE DAY: "I've gotten three of them myself. My dad has gotten five. By the third one I was thinking, 'maybe I should vote for him,'" Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) joking about how many texts his Democratic Rep. Beto O'Rourke's campaign sends, via The New York Times.

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