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By Daniel Strauss | 09/29/2017 10:00 AM EDT


With Elena Schneider, Zach Montellaro and Maggie Severns

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)

ARIZONA SENATE RACE - "Sinema launches Arizona senate bid" by Campaign Pro's Kevin Robillard and Heather Caygle: "Democratic Rep. Kyrsten Sinema is running for Senate against Arizona GOP Sen. Jeff Flake, setting up a marquee race between a former progressive-turned-centrist Democrat and one of President Donald Trump's harshest Republican critics. Sinema released an announcement video on Thursday afternoon, making her Flake's first Democratic challenger. State Rep. Randy Freiss, a trauma surgeon who treated former Rep. Gabby Giffords, was also considering a Democratic bid. Flake is facing a primary challenge from former state Sen. Kelli Ward, and other Republicans are eyeing his seat. ...
Flake has earned the ire of conservatives and the president because of his frequent criticisms of Trump, and Trump has frequently mused about defeating him in a primary. Sinema starts the race with more cash on hand then Flake. At the end of the second quarter, she had $3.2 million on hand. Flake had roughly $3 million in the bank." Full story.

- Wasting no time at all, Flake's reelection campaign set up a website attacking Sinema with the URL www.socialistsinema.com.

2018 PRIMARY WATCH - "Bernie backers give Democratic incumbents a pass in 2018" by POLITICO's Gabriel Debenedetti: "Democrats have long been terrified that the Sanders-Clinton slugfest of 2016 would set off a prolonged civil war in the party, forcing incumbents to fight off primary challengers from the left in Senate and gubernatorial races. It hasn't happened. In a surprising reversal of the post-2008 dynamic - when Republicans were shut out of power, then saw a raft of tea party primary challengers take on their incumbents - Democrats have largely been spared of that predicament. Instead, it's Republican incumbents yet again facing heat from the right, as arch-conservative Roy Moore's
defeat of incumbent Sen. Luther Strange (R-Ala.) this week emphatically showed. ... Yet those potential fights remain long shots, and the one primary challenge that is already underway - from Hawaii Rep. Colleen Hanabusa against Gov. David Ige - is based more around his perceived unpopularity than a progressive insurgency. Meanwhile, liberal challenges to West Virginia Sen. Joe Manchin and Missouri Sen. Claire McCaskill have so far failed to gain traction." Full story.

DAILY ROLL TIDE - "GOP polling: Trump endorsement had 'no impact' in Alabama" by Campaign Pro's Daniel Strauss: "President Donald Trump's endorsement of Sen. Luther Strange had "absolutely no impact" on this week's Republican primary in Alabama, according to analysis conducted by two Republican consulting firms. 'We can concretely say that Donald Trump's endorsement, and active campaigning for Sen. Strange, had absolutely no impact on the ballot,' the firms wrote in a memo. The analysis was conducted by the public affairs firm Firehouse Strategies and the Republican data analytics firm Optimus. Voters became increasingly aware of Trump's support for Strange throughout September, according
to Optimus' polling. But over that same time period, the percentage of those who said they planned to vote for Strange remained constant. Meanwhile, former Alabama Supreme Court Judge Roy Moore's support improved slightly, and he went on to defeat Strange on Tuesday. 'This suggests that while Trump may be good at translating his supporters' sentiments, he is unable to persuade them,' the memo reads. 'If the Alabama example holds nationwide, Republicans running in the midterm elections cannot expect a polling jump from an endorsement or campaign rally by President Trump.'" Full story.

- "Steve Bannon is looking for retribution after Alabama win. And he's recruiting" by CNN's Dana Bash: "Fresh off his insurgent candidate's big win in Alabama, former Trump adviser Steve Bannon is making clear he is seeking retribution against fellow Republican campaign operatives who work against him. ... Bannon is beginning that effort by trying to blackball GOP campaign strategist Jeff Roe, who worked for Sen. Luther Strange, who lost Tuesday's primary to Roy Moore. Bannon is spreading the word that he believes Roe is responsible for dirty tactics against Moore, and alleging that Roe worked with President Donald Trump's son-in-law and White House adviser Jared Kushner to mislead Trump
about the state of the race in Alabama in and around Trump's endorsement of Strange." Full story.

Days until the 2017 election: 39.

Days until the 2018 election: 403.

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

You can also follow us on Twitter: @politicoscott, @ec_schneider, @politicokevin, @danielstrauss4 and @maggieseverns.

FIRST IN SCORE - Equality PAC endorses Gina Ortiz Jones in TX-23: Equality PAC rolled out its first non-incumbent endorsement today, backing Gina Ortiz Jones, a veteran, in the crowded Democratic primary to take on GOP Rep. Will Hurd. "Gina Ortiz Jones is exactly the kind of candidate we need to gain a pro-equality majority in 2018," Rep. Mark Takano, PAC chairman, said in a statement. The group has raised $800,000 so far in 2017.

AIR WARS - GOP PAC drops $222,547 on Wisconsin radio ads: An Iowa-based super PAC with funding from Wisconsin Republican Richard Uihlein is spending $222,547 in Wisconsin on ads supporting Republican Senate candidate Kevin Nicholson, according to a new disclosure. Uihlein's Solutions for Wisconsin PAC is the only group that had donated to the PAC that bought the radio ads this year, according to the most recent FEC filing. Uihlein has put money into the PAC in the past. The spending is listed as supporting Nicholson. Last spring, Americas PAC spent more than $700,000 running radio ads against Democrat Tammy Baldwin.

GETTING THE NOD - End Citizens United names 'No Corporate PAC' endorsements: End Citizens United endorsed four Democratic House challengers who have pledged to not accept corporate PAC money. Jason Crow (CO-06), Dean Phillips (MN-03), Andy Kim (NJ-03) and Anthony Brindisi (NY-22) all got ECU's backing, per a memo released Thursday.

MAILBAG - FEC fires warning shot at Deez Nuts: Former presidential candidate Deez Nuts may be in trouble with the FEC. The Ohio teen, who ran a satirical bid in 2016, appears to have failed to include his "true, correct, or complete" name when he filed to run for president, the FEC wrote to Deez Nuts in a letter. "Knowingly and willfully making any materially false, fictitious, or fraudulent statement or representation to a federal government agency, including the Federal Election Commission, is punishable under the provisions of 18 U.S.C. S 1001," the FEC warns. Letter here.

COLUMBUS FAT CATS - "Trump-inspired candidate is first on air in big Ohio governor primary" by BuzzFeed's Henry Gomez: "The air campaign in Ohio's Republican primary for governor has begun. And it's beginning on a combative note. Rep. Jim Renacci, who is positioning himself as a political outsider in the mold of Donald Trump, launched a six-figure ad buy Thursday with 'Columbus Fat Cats.' The 30-second spot - the first from any candidate in the race - cartoonishly characterizes his three GOP rivals as state capital lifers. ... There may be no better time to run as a Trump-friendly, anti-establishment candidate in a GOP primary. Roy Moore, a right-wing populist with a Trumpian flair, won the
Republican nomination for Senate in Alabama this week by beating an appointed incumbent. That Trump backed the incumbent didn't much matter to voters. And the results there are likely to inspire similar insurgent primary challenges in next year's midterms, with or without Trump's blessing." Full story.

ANTE UP - The Democratic Attorneys General Association and the Republican Attorneys General Association each announced a new infusion of money into the Virginia attorney general race. The Democratic organization said in a press release that it is putting in an additional $500,000 in the race to support Attorney General Mark Herring. Also on Thursday, RAGA announced that it made "another substantial investment" in Republican attorney general candidate John Adams' campaign. According to DAGA, in total its direct total contribution to the race is now $1.5 million. According to RAGA, its direct transfer total to the race is now $1.15 million.

ADMINISTRATION SPEED READ - "Interior Secretary Zinke traveled on charter, military planes" by Pro Energy's Ben Lefebvre: "Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke and his aides have taken several flights on private or military aircraft, including a $12,000 charter plane to take him to events in his hometown in Montana and private flights between two Caribbean islands, according to documents and a department spokeswoman. Zinke is at least the fourth senior member of the Trump administration to have used non-commercial planes at taxpayer expense, along with EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt, Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin and HHS Secretary Tom Price. President Donald Trump has fumed at Price's pricey
travel, and Democrats say the revelations demonstrate a cavalier attitude by Cabinet members toward excessive spending. Interior Department spokeswoman Heather Swift said Zinke's charter or military plane trips were booked only after officials were unable to find commercial flights that would accommodate Zinke's schedule, and that all were "pre-cleared by career officials in the ethics office." Full story.

QUOTE OF THE DAY: "The taxpayers won't pay a dime for my seat on those planes." - Health and Human Services Secretary Tom Price in a statement Thursday promising to reimburse the federal government for the costs of his travel on private jets

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