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By Daniel Strauss | 05/22/2017 10:00 AM EDT


With Scott Bland 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)

BERNING IN MONTANA - Quist leans on Sanders to charge up Montana Democrats," by Campaign Pro's Elena Schneider: "At five rallies scattered across the state, Sanders and Quist tapped into the populist streak that runs through Montana, hitting on themes of women's health and getting dark money out of politics. In the two-day tour, Sanders and Quist catered to the same swath of voters that delivered victory for the former in the 2016 Democratic presidential primaries, hoping that those voters will deliver again ... Some national Republicans are already pointing fingers at Gianforte more so than Republican disarray in Washington. Gianforte, dogged by reports that he blocked stream access on his
ranch, dumped $5 million of his own money into his 2016 gubernatorial bid but lost by 4 points to Gov. Steve Bullock, even as President Donald Trump won Montana by 20. 'Greg Gianoforte is basically an unpopular incumbent trying to get reelected. Quist has $5 million and used that to attack Gianforte on TV, and that reminds people why they didn't like him six months ago,' said a GOP strategist who's working on the race. 'It's close, but Gianforte is keeping it at a single digit lead.'" Full story.

- CEASE AND DESIST - Americans for Prosperity goes after Rob Quist for using a registered trademark: Attorneys for Americans for Prosperity, a group backed by the Kock brothers, sent a "cease and desist" letter to Democrat Rob Quist for using the phrase "Hands Off Our Health Care," which "is a registered trademark of AFP," per a spokesman for the group. Quist has used the phrase during his health care tour across Montana. But apparently, "the phrase was originated by AFP to fight against Obamacare," per an AFP spokesman. Read the full letter here.

FEC WEEKEND - RNC doubled up DNC in April: The Republican National Committee raised $9.6 million and had $41.4 million on hand in April, according to newly filed FEC reports, while the Democratic National Committee raised $4.7 million and had $8.8 million in the bank, while spending more than it raised. In the House, the NRCC raised $10 million and had $31.3 million on hand after April, while the DCCC raised $9.1 million and had $16.6 million on hand.

- MT-AL Republican Greg Gianforte gave his campaign another $500,000 on Friday, per a new FEC report. That's on top of $1 million Gianforte had already loaned his campaign by May 5, the end of the pre-special election period.

2018 WATCH - Republican businesswoman Lena Epstein, a former co-chairwoman of the Trump campaign in Michigan, is announcing that she's running for Senate to unseat Democratic Sen. Debbie Stabenow. In a release out Monday: "Politicians have failed us, and Michigan citizens are looking for another way...I will take the fight directly to Debbie Stabenow because she has failed the people of Michigan after almost two decades in Washington with no major accomplishments. Twenty years of nothing is more than enough. Michigan deserves better."

- Kelly eyes Senate bid, won't run for governor in Pennsylvania: "GOP Rep. Mike Kelly has decided not to run for governor in Pennsylvania but is considering running against Democratic Sen. Bob Casey in 2018, he said in a statement. 'Earlier this week I reached out to several of the potential Republican candidates for Governor to inform them that I will not be pursuing the GOP nomination for that race,' Kelly said Friday. '... I plan to spend much of the coming weeks thoroughly considering a campaign for the GOP nomination for next year's U.S. Senate race.'" Full story.

Days until the 2017 election: 169.

Days until the 2018 election: 533.

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.

NEW THIS MORNING - Congressional Leadership Fund launches new TV ad on GA-06: The GOP super PAC's latest TV ad - part of its record-setting investment in the special election - attacks Democrat Jon Ossoff for his "loyalty to Nancy Pelosi and ties to West Coast liberal donors," per a memo from the group. The ad features actors standing in front of San Francisco landmarks, saying things like: "There's a reason Bay Area liberals have contributed more to Jon Ossoff's campaign than people in Georgia. He's one of us." Watch the ad here.

AD WATCH - "Montana Democrats target voters who could lose insurance with digital ads," by Campaign Pro's Kevin Robillard: Full story.

SCENES FROM THE LEFT COAST - "Democratic divisions on display as Bauman wins California party chairmanship," by POLITICO California's Carla Marinucci and David Siders: "A caustic contest between the party establishment and 'Berniecrat' activists gripped the nation's largest Democratic party in Sacramento this weekend, underscoring fierce Democratic divisions at the state level that continue to simmer five months into Donald Trump's presidency. Even as longtime party operative Eric Bauman eked out a razor thin victory over progressive newcomer Kimberly Ellis to win the chairmanship of the California Democratic Party, party leaders warned of turbulence ahead. After a raucous day of protests,
Bauman was declared the victor Saturday night by a razor-thin 62 vote margin out of nearly 3,000 votes cast. His acceptance speech was marred by boos and protests from backers of Bernie Sanders' 2016 campaign who complained of a rigged election and unsuccessfully demanded a recount in the closing hours of the convention. The tumult showed that in the country's largest state - which is controlled entirely by Democrats - the Hillary Clinton-Bernie Sanders divide of 2016 and the intra-party sparring that followed Clinton's November loss remain very much at the forefront." Full story.

- "Feinstein scalded by anti-Trump fervor," by POLITICO California's David Siders and Carla Marinucci: "Liberal hecklers have protested outside Dianne Feinstein's home. She's been confronted at a Los Angeles fundraiser and a San Francisco town hall meeting by progressives angered by her skeptical view of single payer health care and support for some of Donald Trump's earliest nominees. In a state marked by its unfettered resistance to the president, ... Feinstein's brand of moderation is showing signs of slipping out of favor ... Her public approval rating, while still in relatively positive territory, has ticked down. 'The time has absolutely changed for politicians like her,' said Robert
Shearer, a state party executive board member who served as a delegate whip for Sen. Bernie Sanders' presidential campaign last year. As party activists convened here over the weekend for their annual convention, Shearer said of Feinstein, 'We are not going to tolerate it any more.'" Full story.

RECRUITING STATION - "Democrats Enlist Veterans Ahead of 2018 House Elections," by the Wall Street Journal's Reid Epstein: "Fifteen veterans have already launched 2018 House campaigns, and 10 more may enter races by this summer, Democratic officials say. ... For the first time this year, the DCCC is working with VoteVets, a liberal political-action committee with which the party's House campaign arm has often been at odds. VoteVets, which in the past has backed Democratic veterans in primary challenges, is now targeting competitive general election races. ... VoteVets is set this week to endorse Ms. Houlahan, along with Jason Crow against GOP Rep. Mike Coffman in Colorado and Doug Applegate
and Josh Butner against GOP Reps. Darrell Issa and Duncan Hunter in Southern California.

- "In upstate New York, former Army intelligence officer Pat Ryan is preparing to challenge GOP Rep. John Faso. ... Dan Feehan, a 34-year-old Army veteran who served as a Defense Department official in the Obama administration, is preparing to run in" open MN-01, being vacated by Democratic Rep. Tim Walz. Full story.

FUNDRAISING WATCH - House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi will fundraise and appear at a public event with Democratic Rep. Ted Deutch in South Florida on May 26, the Miami Herald reports.

ADMINISTRATION SPEED READ - "Donald of Arabia," by POLITICO Magazine's Blake Hounshell: "Those who expected Donald Trump to fly into Riyadh and insult his Saudi hosts with the kinds of broadsides he delivered on the campaign trail against Islam and Muslims needn't have worried. The president who once accused Saudi Arabia of complicity in the 9/11 attacks praised its 'magnificent' and 'sacred land.' He looked comfortable trading pleasantries and sipping coffee with King Salman, the aging scion of the country's founding ruler, King Abdulaziz Ibn Saud. He soaked up the gaudy chandeliers, the gilded wall trimmings... [Trump] promised to 'apply new approaches informed by experience and
judgment.' But he also warned several times that the United States wouldn't be bearing any burden or paying any price to vanquish the terrorists that he had once boasted would be quickly and easily defeated." Full story.

- "Trump Discovers the Dangers of Governing at Daredevil Speed," by The New York Times' Glenn Thrush: "President Trump was determined to leave his mark on Washington quickly. Now the city is leaving its bruising mark on him, with the same astonishing swiftness that has been a hallmark of his lightning-strike political career....Aides talked about living in dread of '5 o'clock,' marking the arrival of the daily dump of damaging leaks or fresh reports of staff infighting. What unnerves Mr. Trump and his staff the most is the eerily familiar tempo of these disclosures. It is as if some unseen adversary has copied Mr. Trump's own velocity and ferocity in an attempt to destroy him, several
people close to the president said. Sources are shuttling all kinds of information about Mr. Trump to reporters at a pace the White House cannot match." Full story.

CODA - QUOTE OF THE DAY: "He's made it very clear, at the end of this we're going to have to vote" - Sen. John Thune on early discussions Republican senators have had on moving the House Republican healthcare bill through the Senate, via POLITICO's Burgess Everett and Jennifer Haberkorn.

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