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By Theodoric Meyer | 08/05/2016 10:00 AM EDT


With Maggie Severns, Kevin Robillard and Elena Schneider

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)

LAST NIGHT'S PRIMARIES - DesJarlais hangs on in TN-04: GOP Rep. Scott DesJarlais beat back a primary challenge from newcomer Grant Starrett today, essentially securing a fourth House term in his safely Republican district. DesJarlais had 52 percent of the vote to Starrett's 43 percent with all precincts reporting. DesJarlais has represented Tennessee's 4th District since 2010, but he has faced tough primaries in the past two elections after revelations that he had affairs with medical patients and urged one to have an abortion. Starrett, who is 28 years old and self-funded some of his campaign against DesJarlais, ran to the right of DesJarlais, arguing that the three-term representative
wasn't as conservative as he said - including on abortion.

- Kustoff wins open-seat GOP primary in TN-08: Former U.S. Attorney David Kustoff won the GOP primary in retiring Rep. Stephen Fincher's Tennessee district today, setting him up for election in the safely Republican seat. Kustoff had 27 percent of the vote with all precincts reporting. The runner-up, self-funder George Flinn, had 23 percent of the vote in a crowded field. Fincher's retirement led 13 GOP candidates to announce their runs for Congress, and no clear front-runner emerged during the primary. Kustoff entered the race relatively late, but got help on the campaign trail from Mike Huckabee, who campaigned with Kustoff in Tennessee in July.

- Black beats primary challenger in TN-06: GOP Rep. Diane Black beat back a primary challenge from former Tennessee state legislator Joe Carr today, clearing her path back to Congress. Black had 64 percent of the vote to Carr's 32 percent with all precincts reporting. Black has represented the district since 2010, though she has continued to face primary challengers. Carr, who challenged Republican Sen. Lamar Alexander in 2014 and did better than expected in a losing effort that year, stepped to the plate late this year. Black outspent him approximately $1.5 million to $100,000.

- Full Tennessee results: http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=7ab068af06807e7b863e67d6eefe030ebc62ec476ee09e33c4043431b750ef27

FRONT AND CENTER - "House Democrats lean on veterans' message during Trump-Khan feud," by Campaign Pro's Elena Schneider: "House Democrats' half-dozen veterans running for Congress this year have been front and center this week, as the party reacted to Donald Trump's week-long feud with the parents of a Muslim American soldier killed in Iraq a decade ago. In New York, Mike Derrick said Trump's comments were "offensive." In California, Doug Applegate said Trump "doesn't get it." And everywhere in between, Democratic House candidates who didn't serve in the military pulled together veterans to denounce Trump and criticize local Republican candidates who continue to endorse him, part of
down-ballot Democrats' year-long strategy to drag opponents down by tying them to Trump." http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=7ab068af06807e7be13360ef9ad95f55068e04938bb1f7d942ea771281424ec6

Days until the 2016 election: 95.

Days until the Connecticut, Minnesota, Vermont and Wisconsin congressional primaries: 4.

Thank 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 mseverns@politico.com.

You can also follow us on Twitter, where we tweet a lot about campaigns and occasionally about dark Midwestern clowns: @politicoscott, @ec_schneider, @politicokevin, @theodoricmeyer, @maggieseverns.

NEW THIS MORNING - Kirkpatrick calls for term limits in new TV ad: Democratic Rep. Ann Kirkpatrick's Arizona Senate campaign is out with a new TV advocating term limits. "It's time for term limits, because decades in Washington change people," Kirkpatrick says in the ad - an implied rebuke of GOP Sen. John McCain, who's seeking a sixth term. "If Congress doesn't pass a budget, they shouldn't get paid. We must protect Medicare and never privatize Social Security, hunt down and kill terrorists around the world and fix the VA so veterans get the care they've earned." The ad is part of an ongoing $1.5 million ad buy in the Tucson and Phoenix markets. Watch the ad:
http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=7ab068af06807e7b94dd316ab5384e57a568f3e080b6b023e1496644cb3141ea

- New Portman TV ad focuses on trade: GOP Sen. Rob Portman of Ohio doesn't just defend his record on trade in a new TV ad - he brags about it. "Nobody can compete with the United States of America if we're given a fair shot," Portman, a former U.S. trade representative who has been criticized for support of free trade, says in the ad. "That's why China and other countries have to cheat to steal Ohio's manufacturing jobs, and that's why I'm fighting every day to level the playing field for Ohio workers, "standing up to my own party on trade and fighting back against China when they threaten Ohio jobs." The positive ad never mentions Democrat Ted Strickland. Watch the ad:
http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=7ab068af06807e7bfe4d137d3dfa5f6abeff86e871fbaa87cb83e1522c3fcf33

CAMPAIGN INDUSTRY SPEED READ - "Flashpoints in Polling," by the Pew Research Center's Claudia Deane, Courtney Kennedy, Scott Keeter and Kyley McGeeney: http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=7ab068af06807e7b0a24f50eb951eb3f5b0056cdb818ddb1a3badee630ae0d36

- Check out the CDC's latest estimates of the share of wireless-only households by state: http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=7ab068af06807e7ba0ae01e6907ced8ead821510bd83dc694bdddd21f17f9429

- "Promise (and challenge) of local TV programmatic," by Media Life Magazine's Diego Vasquez: http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=7ab068af06807e7b76d38b663d4f0e77c8ec28b590b8cf5e04abecfd79c2ade9

MORE ADS - New Freedom Partners ad hits Feingold on VA: Freedom Partners, the Koch Brothers-backed super PAC, is out with a new ad again attacking Democrat Russ Feingold for problems at the Tomah, Wis., VA facility.The ad, backed by a $1 million television and digital buy, focuses on a veteran named Marlyn, who it says was over-prescribed dangerous opioids during his time at the facility. "For years, the VA put veterans like Marlyn at risk. It overprescribed him dangerous medicines," a narrator says. "Russ Feingold did nothing to help." The ad then switches to praising Johnson, saying "he listened and acted, demanding accountability, delivering solutions. It's why we need Ron Johnson."
Freedom Partners has previously attacked Feingold over problems at the Tomah facility, but Feingold was able to successfully contest some of the claims in that ad, forcing the super PAC to release a revised spot. The ad also signals that the Koch-backed super PAC isn't giving up on Johnson, two weeks after the group canceled more than $2.2 million in reserved ads. Watch the ad: http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=7ab068af06807e7beb59ddd20dc65531fbe5045d09f1311a116dcf59ccd4b7a3

- New Bayh ad talks 'tough on trade': Former Democratic Sen. Evan Bayh's latest TV ad promises to get "tough on trade" and work across party lines in the Senate if he's elected. http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=7ab068af06807e7b49374589bfe99b3647b1f5a042d677beed949c1b289c3c58

LONGEST OF LONG SHOTS - "Mini-Trump goes after Ryan in his own backyard," by POLITICO's Rachael Bade in Janesville, Wis.: "In an abandoned parking lot on the outskirts of Paul Ryan's hometown, Paul Nehlen railed against what he called the House speaker's 'open borders policies' and claimed Ryan is 'giving American jobs to foreigners.' Attendance at the Wednesday evening rally was sparse: about two-dozen supporters, at least half of them campaign volunteers or staffers, and three who told POLITICO they weren't even from the southeast Wisconsin district. Yet Nehlen, Ryan's little-known, long-shot primary challenger, has managed to generate a wave of national political attention leading up to
Tuesday's election, thanks to a recent nod from his idol and campaign inspiration, Donald Trump. Earlier this week, the GOP nominee pointedly refused to endorse Ryan and went out of his way to compliment Nehlen's campaign." http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=7ab068af06807e7bb48498eebb782bdbd4d5d9f79a02d84f312d25067915a606

POLL MINER'S DAUGHTER - DCCC poll: Garrett 44, Gottheimer 42 in NJ-05: A new DCCC internal poll finds Democrat Josh Gottheimer nearly tied with GOP Rep. Scott Garrett in New Jersey. Among likely voters, 44 percent support Garrett and 42 percent support Gottheimer, with 14 percent undecided. The polling memo does not include favorability numbers, but it does note that voters familiar with Gottheimer prefer him over Garrett, 53 percent to 47 percent. The poll surveyed 508 likely voters on Aug. 2 using live and automated callers. It has a margin of error of plus or minus 4.3 percent. House Majority PAC, the flagship Democratic super PAC involved in House races, has poured money into the race,
shelling out more than $773,000 since June to back Gottheimer. Here's the full polling memo: http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=7ab068af06807e7b3efa2a48cf2f45d74077ac25ed8c12c87f8f8d0f63e8bb52

PRESIDENTIAL SPEED READ - "Clinton's third-party headache," by POLITICO's Steven Shepard: A raft of new polls out this week carried almost unanimously good news for Hillary Clinton, staking the Democratic presidential nominee to significant leads over Donald Trump. But there's one potential warning sign in these polls should the race narrow: Clinton's lead over Trump shrinks when voters are allowed to choose one of the major third-party candidates in the race. ... Here's why Democrats should be concerned: as Trump's support has dwindled in recent days - leaving the GOP nominee with just his fervent supporters - some soft voters may be moving into Clinton's camp when asked on a two-way
ballot, but defecting to another candidate when given the option." http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=7ab068af06807e7bcad8a6b96c298a48fde78a2d49887d770d6ed5199cd20f8a

- "Insiders to Trump: Drop out," by POLITICO's Steven Shepard: "Amid widespread chatter that Donald Trump could drop out of the presidential race before Election Day, Republican insiders in key battleground states have a message for The Donald: Get out. That's according to The POLITICO Caucus - a panel of activists, strategists and operatives in 11 swing states. The majority of GOP insiders, 70 percent, said they want Trump to drop out of the race and be replaced by another Republican candidate - with many citing Trump's drag on Republicans in down-ballot races. But those insiders still think it's a long-shot Trump would actually end his campaign and be replaced by another GOP candidate."
http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=7ab068af06807e7b6e66dab2e7445075db1b8e6c6872dcdd351de88b48e2df14

- "Harry Reid tells Democrats not to get 'overconfident,'" by BuzzFeed News' Ruby Cramer in Las Vegas: "Sen. Harry Reid warned Democrats to not get too cocky here on Thursday, just as Hillary Clinton is scaling back advertising in Virginia and Colorado, signaling the campaign's self-assuredness against Donald Trump in two cornerstone swing states. 'Don't be overconfident,' the U.S. Senate minority leader told a crowd of 1,050, introducing Clinton at a union hall in Las Vegas." Still, Reid "volunteered Georgia, Arizona, and Utah as ripe ground for Clinton. The senator said he was 'confident' that she would make the trip to campaign in at least Arizona and Georgia this fall."
http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=7ab068af06807e7b1e2b60569926ac2b2f837b6d5cfc24da81db53bcadc0995c

CODA - QUOTE OF THE DAY: "I'm suggesting we have a discussion about it, that's for sure." - Paul Nehlen, who's challenging House Speaker Paul Ryan in the primary, in response to a radio host who asked whether he wanted to deport all Muslims from the country. http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=7ab068af06807e7b626ddb6be6dc46c6638838a3c6db92e60eb999f0a4c205a9

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