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By Kyle Cheney

With Lauren French

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. (
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EDWARDS MAKES IT OFFICIAL - Congresswoman to announce Md. Senate bid at 10 a.m.: Rep. Donna Edwards will officially jump into the race for Barbara Mikulski's Senate seat today - kickstarting a competitive primary between the progressive and establishment wings of the Democratic Party. Edwards is the choice candidate for the progressive wing and has been heavily backed by liberal groups since Milkulski announced her intention to retire last week. Rep. Chris Van Hollen, endorsed last week by Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, has also announced his candidacy, and a handful of other House members are weighing bids. The Edwards campaign will roll out the announcement via video at 10 a.m.

More notes from the Maryland:

- Dominos are falling: With Edwards and Van Hollen committed to Senate bids, their House seats are going to see high interest from the large pool of Democratic state lawmakers and county officials who haven't had much room to advance in recent years. Del. Kumar Barve, a Democrat, announced a bid for the House seat being vacated by Rep. Chris Van Hollen, the Washington Post reports. State Sens. Jamie Raskin and Richard Madaleno, Jr. are also interesting in a bid.
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- Rawlings-Blake still on the fence: In an appearance on "Morning Joe" on Monday, Baltimore Mayor Stephanie Rawlings Blake reiterated that she plans to take a "hard look" at running to succeed Sen. Barbara Mikulski. "[I]t's like having a Baltimore girl in the Senate, and a lot of people think that in that style, that very aggressive, unapologetic leadership style is needed in Washington, D.C," she said, adding, "I have a record of bringing people together for getting difficult things done, and I know that Washington needs more of that."

- Twitter clue? A new Twitter feed for Rep. Andy Harris - @Harris4MD - cropped up Monday, feeding speculation about the Congressman's potential interest in higher office. So far, there's been little movement among Republicans interested in running.
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RAHM'S RUNOFF - Billionaires Ken Griffin, Pritzkers part of $1.3 million cash dump to Emanuel campaign," by the Chicago Sun-Times's Natasha Korecki: "Over three days, some of the wealthiest people in Chicago, if not the nation, dumped more than $1.3 million into the political re-election campaign of Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel, state records show. Among the donors was Citadel founder and billionaire Ken Griffin, who donated $250,000 to Emanuel ... Others who donated from March 3 to March 6 include: Groupon co-founder Eric Lefkofsky, $200,000; Richard Melman, $100,000; and Jay B. Pritzker and M.K. Pritzker, who tossed in $50,000 each. [Chuy] Garcia recently took in a $250,000 contribution
from SEIU Healthcare, one of a series of labor donations in Garcia's campaign account."
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- Jesse Jackson Sr. is lined up behind Garcia, the Sun-Times reports:
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NO COMMENT - "Democratic senators reserve judgment on Menendez," by POLITICO's Seung Min Kim and Burgess Everett: "Senate Democrats on Monday largely dismissed questions swirling around Sen. Bob Menendez and the federal corruption charges he's expected to face in the coming weeks, as they declined to say whether the New Jersey Democrat should remain the top Democrat on the Foreign Relations Committee. Menendez has a key role as the ranking member on the influential panel at a time when the Obama administration is engaged in high-stakes nuclear talks with Iran and lawmakers are trying to work on an Authorization of the Use of Force against the Islamic State. But as of Monday, Menendez wasn't
facing any public pressure from senators to relinquish that post."
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AIR WAR - "Group airs ads backing Republicans in DHS funding fight," by POLITICO's Lauren French: "An outside spending group aligned with the House Republican leadership team will run $200,000 in ads defending lawmakers who voted for the long-term Department of Homeland Security funding bill. The Main Street Advocacy ads, which [began] airing Monday night in the Ohio districts represented by Republican Reps. Steve Stivers and Pat Tiberi, will air on radio stations in six districts ... The ad buy will also support Republican Reps. Renee Ellmers of North Carolina, Barbara Comstock of Virginia, Martha McSally of Arizona and Mike Turner of Ohio."
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As Rob Portman gets an assist from the right and Jeb piles on Obamacare, here's POLITICO's Morning Score: daily news, notes and essential information for the 2015 and 2016 election cycles.

Days until the 2015 election: 238; Days until the 2016 election: 609

Thanks for joining us. We're eager for your news and feedback. Email us at
mailto:kcheney@politico.com
kcheney@politico.com or find us on Twitter at @
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kyledcheney .

SPOTLIGHT ON MARK KIRK - "Endangered Kirk to tout stroke comeback," by POLITICO's Manu Raju, posted for Campaign Pro subscribers on Monday afternoon: "[U]nlike his fellow endangered Republicans, Kirk believes he can offer something unique that could cut through party lines: His physical condition. He plans to make his recovery a centerpiece of his campaign, presenting himself as an inspirational and sympathetic figure who's overcome a debilitating physical setback. 'I can hopefully be a powerful example for people who have gone through this,' Kirk said recently in an interview in his Senate office. Yet any physical lapse by the senator, who is often escorted around the Capitol in a
wheelchair by aides and uses a cane to walk, could also signal to skeptical voters that he's not up to the rigors of a grueling job."
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- Kirk starts the cycle as an underdog, Stu Rothenberg writes:
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CLUB SCORECARD - The Club For Growth is out with its annual scorecard of Senate members. The highlights include few Republicans who could find themselves in the group's crosshairs:
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FIRST IN SCORE - Villaraigosa endorses in CA-44: State Sen. Isadore Hall keeps racking up high-profile endorsements, and today he'll get the backing of former Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa. Hall would succeed Rep. Janice Hahn, who's leaving to run a campaign for Los Angeles County supervisor.

EMAIL SAGA CONTINUES - Cause of Action, the right-leaning government watchdog group, has filed three new FOIA requests with the State Department to recover some of Hillary Clinton's State Department emails. The first, delivered to the department's IG, seeks "documents relating to any review, audit or investigation, whether merely considered, ongoing or completed, concerning Secretary's Clinton's compliance with electronic recordkeeping requirements and use of personal devices for agency business," as well as any emails she might have sent to the White House - correspondence the group contends would prove high-level officials knew Clinton was using a personal email account. The other FOIAs
take aim at whether Clinton received any records management training or waivers from federal rules. The FOIAs:
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2016 GOP - "Jeb Bush talks alternative to Obamacare 'monstrosity,'" by POLITICO Pro Health's Jennifer Haberkorn, with Katie Glueck: "Jeb Bush says that Obamacare is a 'monstrosity' and wants the government to focus instead on a catastrophic coverage plan to help people who experience costly medical crises. The potential Republican 2016 presidential contender said that he doesn't see Obamacare being repealed before President Barack Obama leaves office. But once it is, he wants to see a different plan ... Bush cited Medicaid reforms that he put into place in Florida, which he calls a defined contribution plan, and says that he increased patient and physician satisfaction and reduced costs."
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- "Jeb rallies donors," by POLITICO's Anna Palmer: "Jeb Bush held a conference call Monday afternoon to rally his national finance committee members before the first quarter fundraising deadline. Bush, who has been crisscrossing the country raising money and trying to build national support for a likely 2016 bid, told supporters that he's been fine-tuning his message and that his positions were starting to gel. Most recently, Bush was in Iowa this past weekend for an agricultural summit. Bush said he plans to go to New Hampshire and South Carolina."
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MORE SCHOCK TREATMENT -"Schock misreported payment for private flight," by POLITICO's Jake Sherman and Anna Palmer, with John Bresnahan: "Illinois Rep. Aaron Schock reported on federal campaign finance documents that he spent more than $3,000 on software on Nov. 14. But in fact, the expenditure was part of the cost of flying in a software executive's private plane to a Chicago Bears game and his district, the pilot and company executive said. Keith Siilats, the chief technology officer of Bytelogics, said in an interview that the $3,425 that the Schock Victory Fund reported spending with his company was really part of the cost for a ride on his airplane.
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CODA - QUOTE OF THE DAY: "To be honest with you, it's not about me winning. It's about beating Rod. I do not want him to win." - Jack Melton, a former campaign aide to Rep. Rod Blum (R-Iowa), who's announcing a bid to take out the man he helped elect. Via the Quad-City Times:
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