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By Daniel Strauss | 05/12/2017 10:00 AM EDT


With Kevin Robillard, Bianca Padró Ocasio, and Scott Bland

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)

2018 WATCH - "MacArthur, Upton have Senate buzz after healthcare roles," by Campaign Pro's Kevin Robillard and Daniel Strauss: "Reps. Tom MacArthur (R-N.J.) and Fred Upton (R-Mich.) are now the men who saved the House GOP's plan to replace Obamacare. And two years from now, they might be senators - or be out of office entirely. Upton is seriously considering a Senate run, according to Republican operatives close to him, and national Republicans have long seen him as the best candidate to face Democratic Sen. Debbie Stabenow in 2018. Another Republican source said MacArthur would consider challenging under-indictment Democratic Sen. Robert Menendez in 2018, too. The Republicans' healthcare
amendments and legislative negotiating garnered high praise and high profiles within the GOP this month, kindling the Senate chatter - but it has also marked both MacArthur and Upton as Democratic targets for 2018, when they could face tough races to defend their House seats. Democratic groups have already targeted both of them with advertising, and MacArthur faced down a very hostile crowd in a four-hour town hall on health care in his district Wednesday night." Full story.

FIRST IN SCORE - WEB WARS - The NRSC is out with a new web video, titled "The Majority is Working to Rollback Obama Regulations,"touting Senate Republicans who along with President Trump are "working to undo" the "tidal wave of job killing regulations." The 42-second web ad shows pics of Sens. Dean Heller, Jeff Flake, Shelley Moore Capito and NRSC chair Cory Gardner while a narrator says Senate Republicans have passed "numerous bills repealing burdensome Obama-era rules. Along with action taken by President Trump, this saves businesses over 56 million hours in paperwork and 67 million hours in regulatory costs." Watch the ad here.

- DSCC uses six-second digital ads in seven states: The DSCC is again deploying six-second, non-skippable YouTube ads in the health care fight. In six of the states, the committee is attacking members for making prescription drug treatment cost more. Those ads will run against Reps. Evan Jenkins, Alex Mooney and David McKinley in West Virginia, Reps. Todd Rokita and Luke Messer in Indiana, Reps. Ann Wagner and Vicky Hartzler in Missouri, Rep. Pat Tiberi in Ohio, Reps. Mike Kelly and Lou Barletta in Pennsylvania and Rep. Kevin Cramer in North Dakota. And Rep. Fred Upton in Michigan will be criticized on pregnancy costs.

IN OTHER FBI NEWS - "FBI searches Republican political consulting firm in Annapolis," by The Washington Post's Fenit Nirappil, Josh Hicks and Matea Gold: "Federal authorities on Thursday searched the offices of a political consulting firm in Annapolis that has worked with Republican candidates locally and nationwide and was sued in 2014 on allegations of fraudulent fundraising practices. Strategic Campaign Group ... has close ties to Republican consultant Scott B. Mackenzie, a treasurer for multiple political action committees that have drawn scrutiny for spending little money on candidates and instead steering donations to consultants, according to the Center for Responsive Politics. ...
[Strategic Campaign Group strategist Kelley] Rogers said agents appeared interested in work the firm did during Virginia Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli's 2013 gubernatorial race. Cuccinelli (R) sued the Strategic Campaign Group and the Conservative Strike Force in 2014, alleging they raised almost $2.2 million to support his campaign but steered little of that money to him." Full story.

Days until the 2017 election: 179.

Days until the 2018 election: 543.

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

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

SPECIAL ELECTION UPDATE - "Handel Avoids Talk of Special Prosecutor After Comey Firing," via The Associated Press: "The Republican in a closely watched suburban Atlanta congressional race is echoing the White House after President Donald Trump fired FBI Director James Comey. Karen Handel says Trump's move is "probably overdue." Her Wednesday statement says Comey "lost the confidence of Republicans, Democrats and broader institutions."...A Handel aide says she won't take questions until next week, when House Speaker Paul Ryan is set to campaign with her." Full story.

- The NRCC's latest TV ad in GA-06 hits Democrat Jon Ossoff for supporting the Iran nuclear deal and uses news footage of U.S. terrorist attacks. "Terrorists in our shopping centers. Jihadists in our streets," the ad's narrator says. "And Jon Ossoff supports the dangerous deal allowing Iran billions. Iran: the leading state sponsor of terrorism." Full story.

- And the committee's latest TV ad in MT-AL hits Democrat Rob Quist for not "pay[ing] his bills" and includes a contractor who says Quist "stiffed" him. See the ad.

- ON THE STUMP - Vice President Mike Pence will be in Montana with Republican Greg Gianforte Friday, a day after Gianforte rallied with Donald Trump Jr. again. Bernie Sanders will be in the state next weekend, he announced in an email to Our Revolution. And Paul Ryan has a GOTV rally coming up with Karen Handel in GA-06 on May 15.

- THREE'S A TREND - DeMint, Cruz, Senate Conservatives Fund back Norman in SC-05: Republican Ralph Norman was endorsed by a key conservative triumvirate Thursday: former Sen. Jim DeMint, Sen. Ted Cruz and Senate Conservatives Fund. DeMint, who until recently ran the Heritage Foundation, founded the Senate Conservatives Fund. Early on, the conservative outside group closely aligned itself with Cruz as it boosted insurgent challengers to incumbent Republican lawmakers and establishment open primary opponents. Something to watch: SCF's financial muscle atrophied in 2016 - will it be a big player again in 2017 and 2018, potentially with DeMint's help?

- "Special Election Fights Expose House Republicans' Squabbles With White House," by the New York Times' Jonathan Martin: "The House Republican campaign arm is increasingly at odds with the White House over how best to retain the party's congressional majorities and, more broadly, who is in charge of the midterm campaign effort as Republicans spend millions of dollars in special elections to retain House seats in conservative-leaning districts...Last month, Mr. Stivers asked the Republican National Committee for financial assistance with the special elections. In discussions with the R.N.C. chairwoman, Ronna McDaniel, Mr. Stivers intimated that the national party should feel partly
responsible for the Georgia and Montana seats because Mr. Trump created the vacancies by appointing the Georgian Tom Price as health secretary and the Montanan Ryan Zinke as interior secretary, according to Republican officials familiar with the conversations." Full story.

DRIP, DRIP, DRIP - "Text messages back up Burnett's affidavit," by The Nevada Independent's Megan Messerly, Michelle Rindels, Riley Snyder and Jackie Valley: "Text messages exchanged between Nevada Attorney General Adam Laxalt and the state's top gaming regulator back up many of the allegations made in an affidavit describing Laxalt's efforts to persuade gaming regulators to intervene in a civil lawsuit involving casino billionaire Sheldon Adelson." Read the text messages here. Full story.

KOBACH'S SIDE GIG - "Trump signs executive order creating voter fraud commission," by POLITICO's Louis Nelson: "President Donald Trump signed an executive order Thursday creating a commission to examine voter fraud and voter suppression, after repeatedly claiming, without evidence, that fraudulent voting constitutes a major and ongoing problem in the United States...Vice President Mike Pence will serve as the commission's chairman, and controversial Kansas Secretary of State Kris Kobach will serve as its vice chairman. Kobach, a prominent GOP figure known for his tough stance on immigration, met with Trump at his Bedminster resort in New Jersey last November during the presidential
transition period and was at one point believed to be a possible pick to lead the Department of Homeland Security." Full story.

- SCORE NOTE: Kobach has also been weighing a run for governor. If he does decide to run, he'd face Wink Hartman and possibly others in the Republican primary. Democrats, meanwhile, could also have a divided primary on their hands for the first time this millennium, as the Kansas City Star's Bryan Lowry pointed out.

- "A Democrat Explains Why He Agreed To Serve On Trump's Commission To Investigate 'Election Integrity,'" by Buzzfeed's Zoe Tillman: "Maine Secretary of State Matthew Dunlap said he wasn't looking to take on more work when his counterpart in Kansas, Kris Kobach, contacted him earlier this year to ask if he'd be interested in working with the vice president's office on an examination of US voter systems. But after talking it through with his staff, Dunlap told BuzzFeed News that he decided it was better to be involved than not..."Ultimately if we get into a real examination of some of those [voter fraud] claims, my suspicion is we're not going to find very much," Dunlap said. "If they try to
take something that's nothing and make it into something, how are you best postured to counter that? ... It seems like from inside would be the best case." Full story.

CODA - QUOTE OF THE DAY: "Oh, at some point I'll release them. Maybe I'll release them after I'm finished because I'm very proud of them actually. I did a good job." - President Donald Trump in an interview with The Economist on if he'll ever release his tax returns.

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