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By Emily Schultheis (eschultheis@politico.com; Twitter: @emilyrs) and Jose Del Real (
mailto:jdelreal@politico.com
jdelreal@politico.com ; Twitter: @jdelreal)

FIRST IN SCORE-KINGSTON RUNS BIO SPOT AS FIRST AD: Georgia Rep. Jack Kingston, one of many candidates in the crowded Republican Senate primary, will release his first ad later this morning, a bio spot focused on his background and his values. "His parents were raised during the Depression. Living in Athens, they taught him the value of a dollar and the virtue of hard work. Those principles steer Jack Kingston,' the ad says. 'Jack worked a the Port of Savannah, helped grow a business, married Libby and raised their children in the same church where they said 'I do.' Hard work, conservative values. It's what drives America. It's what drives Jack Kingston.' The ad will air statewide on
broadcast and cable; Kingston's campaign wouldn't confirm the size of the buy, but said it is "significant" and is running in all major media markets across Georgia. Kingston is one of three GOP House members running for Senate there-his campaign hopes that his efforts to get on the air early, as well as purchase airtime early for the last two months of time primary, will help give him an edge. Watch:
http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=f2a9f5244765311206e408b8e987610a2087f1084a777bc25767ee393f980651
http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=f2a9f5244765311206e408b8e987610a2087f1084a777bc25767ee393f980651

BIG CONVENTION NEWS-Today at 10 a.m. EST, RNC Chairman Reince Priebus will make an announcement about which cities are in the running to host the 2016 Republican convention. Official bids were due to the RNC on Wednesday, and the cities will present their proposals in D.C. on Monday. Many believe Las Vegas to be the frontrunner, though there's still a ways to go before any final decision is made.

FEBRUARY SURPRISE-GARDNER SHAKES UP COLORADO RACE: The Colorado Senate race just got a lot more interesting with the entrance of GOP Rep. Cory Gardner. Gardner had long been considered a prospect for the race against incumbent Democratic Sen. Mark Udall, but had declined to run last year; his decision to get into the race was a surprise to Colorado observers and welcome news for Republicans there who were holding out hope of having a real race against Udall. Udall's situation is similar to that of Democrat Mark Warner in Virginia-neither has been seen as particularly vulnerable, but having a strong GOP recruit get into the race (in Warner's case, that was former RNC Chairman Ed Gillespie)
makes the races competitive. Gardner will face state Sen. Owen Hill and state Rep. Amy Stephens for the GOP nomination; Ken Buck, who had been another GOP candidate in the race, announced that he'd seek Gardner's House seat in CO-04 (a reliably Republican district).
http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=f2a9f5244765311246b803cfdd05743e9cfb690bc7830efb7509c2cdae97903c
http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=f2a9f5244765311246b803cfdd05743e9cfb690bc7830efb7509c2cdae97903c

EXCLUSIVE-RLCC NAMES NEW LEADERSHIP: The Republican Legislative Campaign Committee will announce its new executive committee members today, many of whom are rising stars in the party and likely candidates for higher office in the future. The full list includes: Pennsylvania House Speaker Sam Smith; Iowa House Speaker Kraig Paulsen; Arkansas Senate President Pro Tem Michael Lamoureux; California Assembly Republican Leader Connie Conway; Colorado Senate Republican Leader Bill Cadman; Florida House Speaker Will Weatherford; Indiana House Speaker Brian Bosma; Kentucky Senate President Robert Stivers; Michigan House Speaker Jase Bolger; Minnesota House Republican Leader Kurt Daudt; Missouri
House Speaker Tim Jones; New Jersey Senate Republican Leader Tom Kean; Tennessee House Speaker Beth Harwell; Texas House Speaker Joe Straus; Utah House Speaker Becky Lockhart; Virginia House Speaker Bill Howell; and Wisconsin Senate Majority Leader Scott Fitzgerald.

As EMILY's List picks two in Nevada, Jan Brewer decides to veto and Montana gets its own birther movement, here's POLITICO's Morning Score: your daily guide to the 2014 midterms.

DAYS UNTIL THE ELECTION: 250!

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Good Thursday morning and welcome to Morning Score. As always, send your tips, thoughts, and suggestions to
mailto:eschultheis@politico.com
eschultheis@politico.com or tweet them to @emilyrs.

RATINGS CHANGES: In the wake of the Gardner announcement, Sabato shifts CO-Sen from "Likely Democratic" to "Lean Democratic"
http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=f2a9f524476531122495625a80fa84068251873b34ebbc5400a46690a3b9fb8f
http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=f2a9f524476531122495625a80fa84068251873b34ebbc5400a46690a3b9fb8f .

SNEAK PEEK-EMILY'S LIST BACKS TWO NEVADA CANDIDATES: The pro-Democratic women's group EMILY's List will roll out two state-level endorsements in Nevada today: the group will announce it's supporting State Treasurer Kate Marshall for secretary of state and State Comptroller Kim Wallin for state treasurer. In a release, EMILY's List President Stephanie Schriock says Marshall "shows a commitment to empowering women and families" and praised Wallin's "record of common sense financial policy and efforts to put Nevada's women and families first."

PLANNED PARENTHOOD'S BIG '14 MOVE: POLITICO's Alex Burns has the exclusive on Planned Parenthood's midterms calculus: "The political arm of Planned Parenthood is preparing to launch its largest campaign offensive ever ... The cost of the midterm campaign is expected to cross the $18 million mark, including $2.4 million the group spent in 2013 for Virginia's off-year governor's race, officials with the group said. ... Planned Parenthood officials said the group intends to spend in at least 14 states, with an emphasis on a half-dozen with marquee statewide races. The targets include Senate races in North Carolina, Alaska and Montana and gubernatorial elections in Pennsylvania, Florida and
Texas, where the presumptive Democratic nominee is state Sen. Wendy Davis, a hero to abortion rights supporters."
http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=ccba582dbd066899ff8aea79c9304c7f3c12daa1d33a1e317e230aab82cd3b9a
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BREWER VETOES ARIZ. LAW: After a day of waiting in which national Republicans all weighed in on Arizona's law allowing the refusal of service to gay customers, Gov. Jan Brewer decided to veto it. The Arizona Republic: "Facing intense pressure from political and business interests and a growing public outcry, Gov. Jan Brewer announced Wednesday that she had vetoed Senate Bill 1062, the divisive right-to-refuse service legislation. 'Religious liberty is a core American and Arizona value - so is non-discrimination,' Brewer said. The Republican governor announced the bill was unnecessary legislation that threatened the state's recovering economy by driving away high-profile events such
as next year's Super Bowl and corporations looking to relocate to Arizona. She said the proposed law was too broadly worded and could have resulted in 'unintended and negative consequences.''
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NONPROFITS' CAMPAIGN SPENDING MAY BE AGAINST IRS RULES: The Center for Public Integrity has a detailed look this morning at the way four political nonprofits spent their money on campaigns in 2012: "Two of the tightest races for U.S. Senate in 2012 were in Nevada and Arizona. Republican candidates eked out wins in both states with help from four so-called 'dark money' nonprofits. ... Adding insult to injury for the Democratic contenders, Shelley Berkley in Nevada and Richard Carmona in Arizona, it turns out one of the groups' nonprofit benefactors explicitly warned them not to spend the money on that sort of politicking. The fact that the four nonprofits - Americans for Responsible
Leadership, American Future Fund, American Commitment and Americans for Tax Reform - did so anyway, without suffering any apparent harm, shows how little oversight a new wave of political nonprofits have received in the wake of the 2010 U.S. Supreme Court decision that has allowed them to flourish."
http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=ccba582dbd066899ec383c60acbc143fcc0d8bc16f64d6bb39f2d783cb0c58ae
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MUST-READ-BIDEN IN WINTER: POLITICO's Glenn Thrush takes a deep dive into Biden-world in his new profile of the vice president: "[B]y any reasonable reckoning, night is falling on his singular four-decade political career. At 71, he is in the second year of a second White House term, restless in his role as second fiddle to Barack Obama, especially now that he is once again being upstaged by Hillary Clinton, Obama's presumed Democratic heir. The tickled-alligator grin is still famously affixed to Biden's face, but there's a lot more going on behind those Ray-Bans these days. Joe Biden in winter is still basically a happy warrior, but the past couple years have been a struggle for both
relevance and leverage-a fight largely hidden from public view, between the presidential dreams he can't quite relinquish and the shrinking parameters of a job he described to me as derivative, borrowed and 'totally reflective of the president's power.'"
http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=ccba582dbd0668995e8a1bd48f42adbdb4363f8593acf86b2abc4187334b2bc7
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HILLARY CLINTON SPEAKS IN MIAMI: Former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton delivered a speech at the University of Miami Wednesday, making comments ranging from climate change to foreign policy to Washington partisanship. The Miami Herald has more: "One topic she conspicuously avoided: Whether she'll run for president in 2016. When asked about her plans - noted in her Twitter bio as 'TBD,' or to be determined - Clinton slipped the question. 'Well, I'd really like to. But I have no characters left,' Clinton said with a laugh, referencing the 140-character limit of Twitter....[E]arlier, in addressing the 6,000 or so students and guests, Clinton might have given a hint. 'No one can or should
sit on the sidelines,' said Clinton. ... As with a September speech Clinton gave in Miami, her appearance was highly stage-managed and had the trappings of a campaign event. There were no questions from, or nearness to, the news media."
http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=ccba582dbd0668990c117e36c8e767eaabfd8a2ff8e3815d7982c158d26974d3
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ACROSS THE MAP-Quick takes from races around the country:

SENATE-

-NC-Sen first look: The Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee will launch a hit on North Carolina GOP candidate Thom Tillis, who suggested Wednesday that he's against the minimum wage. The candidate's comments "revealed just how incredibly out of touch he is with North Carolina's working families and just how damaging his agenda would be in Washington," says DSCC spokesman Justin Barasky.

-MI-Sen: A new Senate Majority PAC ad, with about $450,000 behind it, defends Democrat Gary Peters and hits GOP candidate Terri Lynn Land, saying she is 'helping the powerful at our expense.'
http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=ccba582dbd066899a73a90a1c1e0fde4a0192aaa30601af1d44a73a50b7f5fc6
http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=ccba582dbd066899a73a90a1c1e0fde4a0192aaa30601af1d44a73a50b7f5fc6

-MT-Sen: Montana Democrats are calling on GOP candidate Steve Daines to release his birth certificate to prove his Montana roots.
http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=ccba582dbd066899227becf81da316169f387cf3ce4df86cfed87bec8c1bf204
http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=ccba582dbd066899227becf81da316169f387cf3ce4df86cfed87bec8c1bf204

-SC-Sen: GOP Sen. Lindsey Graham has the support of 45 percent of likely GOP voters, according to a new Winthrop Poll, but is 5 points shy of the 50 percent required to avoid a runoff in his primary.
http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=ccba582dbd066899aeeff6637841095afbc132a85fb1933ae33ed4250b099149
http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=ccba582dbd066899aeeff6637841095afbc132a85fb1933ae33ed4250b099149

HOUSE-

-NY-13: State Sen. Adriano Espaillat will again challenge incumbent Rep. Charlie Rangel in the Democratic primary.
http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=ccba582dbd066899299e877f02d2eff7d8eb72bc1964f99f528d178402d81da2
http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=ccba582dbd066899299e877f02d2eff7d8eb72bc1964f99f528d178402d81da2

-FL-13: Democratic candidate Alex Sink is facing criticism for comments she made about immigrant workers and immigration reform.
http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=ccba582dbd0668999356c63916f12d48b3ec61d6f4e40c652a62a36a79797616
http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=ccba582dbd0668999356c63916f12d48b3ec61d6f4e40c652a62a36a79797616

-NC-03: GOP Rep. Walter Jones implied his primary opponent Taylor Griffin is a 'puppet of Washington.'
http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=e26dc4b277a9756b1b8a7249d5ed14cb388117189c244704c1e4ff0cf758bbf9
http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=e26dc4b277a9756b1b8a7249d5ed14cb388117189c244704c1e4ff0cf758bbf9

-NY-21: Former Democratic state Sen. Darrel Aubertine won't run for retiring Democratic Rep. Bill Owens's seat.
http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=e26dc4b277a9756b416358e4ae40999d30de0ace20dd7c754b53fa1d14921f82
http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=e26dc4b277a9756b416358e4ae40999d30de0ace20dd7c754b53fa1d14921f82

GOVERNORS-

-FL-Gov: Democrat Charlie Crist spoke out about the controversial religious freedom bill in Arizona; GOP Gov. Rick Scott originally wouldn't give a position on the law, then later Wednesday afternoon said he would veto it.
http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=e26dc4b277a9756b93acbcace8bdd58d6017e1a673fb640ec1aa8ba7b07f823d
http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=e26dc4b277a9756b93acbcace8bdd58d6017e1a673fb640ec1aa8ba7b07f823d

-PA-Gov: Planned Parenthood endorsed Democratic gubernatorial candidate Allyson Schwartz.
http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=e26dc4b277a9756b95cf643cbdeeb43a31c5f9ad7559ece3e6b04b03c4031cce
http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=e26dc4b277a9756b95cf643cbdeeb43a31c5f9ad7559ece3e6b04b03c4031cce

-More PA-Gov: A Franklin & Marshall College poll finds that businessman Tom Wolf has opened up a big lead in the Democratic primary:
http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=e26dc4b277a9756b8aadf2d19bf66d33714353922a2a0ff602d07e4e06fdb55b
http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=e26dc4b277a9756b8aadf2d19bf66d33714353922a2a0ff602d07e4e06fdb55b

-TX-Gov: State Attorney General Greg Abbott, the Republican candidate for governor, said the state will appeal a court decision Wednesday that struck down its same-sex marriage ban, though he acknowledged that there are "good, well-meaning people on both sides" of the issue.
http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=e26dc4b277a9756b7b51e64cc8c4e4e9986fcd6e5faa01de74718b1173296ac1
http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=e26dc4b277a9756b7b51e64cc8c4e4e9986fcd6e5faa01de74718b1173296ac1

CODA-QUOTE OF THE DAY: 'It's not like we're talking about Arlen Specter here." -Rand Paul, speaking about his fellow Kentucky senator, Mitch McConnell, and the primary challenge he's facing from businessman Matt Bevin.
http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=e26dc4b277a9756bd7ff7091e576512a3baa50e911c528fc3d09abbceff1e194
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