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By Daniel Strauss and Elena Schneider | 05/10/2017 10:00 AM EDT


With Kevin Robillard, Scott Bland, and Bianca Padró Ocasio

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)

NEW THIS A.M. - Club for Growth backs Norman in SC-05 GOP runoff: The Club for Growth is endorsing former state Rep. Ralph Norman to replace Rep. Mick Mulvaney in South Carolina's 5th District. Norman is one week away from a GOP primary runoff against state Rep. Tommy Pope. Club for Growth Action, the group's political arm, is out with two ads, which will run on cable, digital and broadcast in the Columbia, Greenville and Charlotte markets from Wednesday until election day. One of the ads, "Millions," attacks Pope for working as a personal injury lawyer and voting to expand worker's compensation. "Pope wanted to give himself more ways to make more millions," a narrator declares. Watch the
ad here.

- MEANWHILE - "U.S. Chamber endorses Pope in South Carolina runoff," by Campaign Pro's Kevin Robillard: "The U.S. Chamber of Commerce is endorsing South Carolina state Rep. Tommy Pope, a former prosecutor, for the Republican nomination to replace Rep. Mick Mulvaney in the upcoming special election. ... The winner will face Democrat Archie Parnell, a former Goldman Sachs tax executive, in the June 20 general election." Full story.

THE PRIMARY WE'LL BE TALKING ABOUT THIS SUMMER? - "POLITICO Pro Q&A: Alabama Republican Del Marsh," by Campaign Pro's Daniel Strauss: "Del Marsh, the Republican president pro tempore of the Alabama state Senate, says he has decided whether he's running for U.S. Senate. He just isn't telling anyone yet. In the meantime, allies of GOP Sen. Luther Strange - who was appointed to the seat this winter by former Gov. Robert Bentley - are doing everything they can to head off Marsh ... But Marsh predicted that he will have super PAC help of his own."

- "Are you surprised at the moves the NRSC and Senate Leadership Fund have made to support Sen. Strange this early? If you look at where most of the support's coming from, it's coming from Washington. It's very clear that Washington wants to pick Alabama's senator, and I've said before it should be the people of Alabama who make that decision. I went up to Washington and talked with several people and told them the same thing. I just wish they could back off a little bit because it's unfortunate. ... So how do you counter all this? Will you have outside group help, perhaps from close allies of yours like Jimmy Rane and Raymond Harbert? I believe there are people out there that are ready to
set up a super PAC and lay out the message that it's best for Alabama to pick its own senator. I've had no one give me a hard-line promise of money that's going to be spent, but I believe somebody or a group of people will put together a super PAC and do something." Full story.

FIRST IN SCORE - Quist raises $500,000 in last week: Democrat Rob Quist has raised $500,000 in the Montana House special election since The New York Times reported that Republican Greg Gianforte praised the GOP's health care bill "during a private conference call with Republican lobbyists in Washington," per a campaign aide.

LABRADOR VIES TO REPLACE OTTER - "Labrador to run for Idaho governor," by POLITICO's Heather Caygle: "Rep. Raul Labrador, a conservative Republican who has frequently tangled with GOP leadership, will run for governor of Idaho in 2018. A founding member of the hard-line House Freedom Caucus, Labrador filed to run for governor on Tuesday. Labrador is expected to be one of several Republicans vying to replace Gov. Butch Otter, who has long said he wouldn't seek reelection in 2018. Labrador leaves behind a safe Republican seat - both he and President Donald Trump won roughly two-thirds of the vote in the district last year." Full story.

- Names to watch in Labrador's now-open ID-01: More here.

Days until the 2017 election: 181.

Days until the 2018 election: 545.

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.

WAY DOWNBALLOT - Republican Omaha mayor wins reelection: Republican incumbent Jean Stothert defeated Democrat Heath Mello - the Bernie Sanders-endorsed focal point of a Democratic Party argument over abortion and tent size last month - in the Omaha mayoral election Tuesday night, 53 percent to 46 percent. Mello's campaign had used President Donald Trump as a foil to drive turnout, but it wasn't enough to beat the incumbent. More here from the Omaha World-Herald.

- Another local election to watch next week: The Philadelphia district attorney race. Criminal justice reform advocates are intensely interested in the open Democratic primary to replace current DA Seth Williams on May 16. Former city prosecutors Michael Untermeyer (also a former prosecutor with the state AG's office) and Joe Khan (also a former assistant U.S. attorney) have led the fundraising field, but longtime civil rights and defense attorney Larry Krasner has benefitted from over $1.4 million in super PAC spending via Democratic donor George Soros, part of his nationwide push in local prosecutor races. Krasner is running on, among other things, a completely anti-death penalty
platform. The main contenders are all against cash bail and reforming civil seizure practices. See interviews with Untermeyer, Khan, and Krasner here, as well as more from Philadelphia magazine.

SPECIAL ELECTION UPDATE - "Voter registration backlog complicates Georgia's 6th District runoff," by the Atlanta Journal Constitution's Greg Bluestein: "Local counties under order to reopen voter registration in Georgia's 6th Congressional District face a backlog of tens of thousands of applications and have already begun working overtime to process them all in time for the June 20 runoff election. [O]fficials said it is impossible to know how many of them involve residents in each county who actually reside in the district itself. ... Counties are trying to get all applications in by June 8." (That would give Democrat Jon Ossoff and Republican Karen Handel's campaigns 12 days before the
June 20 runoff for individual voter contact with all new voters.) Full story.

FIRST IN SCORE - AAN kicks off another round of health care ads: American Action Network is adding another $250,000 to a digital ad effort to promote the GOP's health care plan during recess, bringing its total investment in supporting the legislation to $2.7 million. The ad targets 25 congressional districts, which cover members in swing districts, leadership positions and members of the House Freedom Caucus. The ads, which ask voters to thank members for the "bold plan" that will "cut the deficit," will run on several platforms, including Facebook and Google, for the next two weeks. Watch the digital ad here.

- The full list of members: Rep. Martha McSally (AZ-02), Rep. Jeff Denham (CA-10), Rep. David Valadao (CA-21), Rep. Kevin McCarthy (CA-23), Rep. Steve Knight (CA-25), Rep. Ed Royce (CA-39), Rep. Mimi Walters (CA-45), Rep. Darrell Issa (CA-49), Rep. Brian Mast (FL-18), Rep. Carlos Curbelo (FL-26), Rep. Rod Blum (IA-01), Rep. Peter Roskam (IL-06), Rep. Rodney Davis (IL-13), Rep. Kevin Yoder (KS-03), Rep. Steve Scalise (LA-01), Rep. Bruce Poliquin (ME-02), Rep. Jason Lewis (MN-02), Rep. Erik Paulsen (MN-03), Rep. Don Bacon (NE-02), Rep. Tom MacArthur (NJ-03), Rep. Jim Jordan (OH-04), Rep. Pat Tiberi (OH-12), Rep. Greg Walden (OR-02), Rep. Kevin Brady (TX-08) and Speaker Paul Ryan (WI-01).

NEW FIRM ALERT - Democratic veterans launch Left Hook: Admakers Raghu Devaguptapu, Rachel Ostendorf, Brandon Hall (Harry Reid's 2010 campaign manager), and Joel Kliksberg (former ABC News chief of staff) have formed Left Hook, a media and political strategy firm. The firm's clients already include the DCCC's independent expenditure work supporting Jon Ossoff, New Mexico Sen. Martin Heinrich and Reps. Dina Titus, Rubeun Kihuen and Ami Bera, plus AFSCME and CHC BOLD PAC.

DRIP, DRIP, DRIP - "Legislature obtains secret recording of AG, affidavit from gaming regulator who taped him," by The Nevada Independent's Jon Ralston: "State lawmakers have obtained a clandestine recording made by Gaming Control Board Chairman A.G. Burnett of a conversation with Attorney General Adam Laxalt as well as an affidavit about the incident from Burnett, sources confirm. Ways and Means Chairwoman Maggie Carlton, who requested the subpoena, said the information is 'unsettling and warrants a hearing.' ...Burnett secretly taped Laxalt last year after the attorney general insisted on meeting him outside the office and made a pitch for the state to intervene in a civil dispute Adelson
was having with a former employee." Full story.

OUTSIDE HELP - Progressive Turnout Project spends on GOTV to help Quist: A progressive group is dropping $180,000 on field staff, digital ads and a mail program aimed at turning out voters for Montana's House special election to boost Democrat Rob Quist, per a statement from the group. That brings the group's total spending in the race to $200,000.

POST MORTEM - Priorities USA study argues voter ID laws lowered 2016 turnout: Full story.

ADMINISTRATION SPEED READ - "Comey firing threatens Senate probe into Trump's Russia ties," by POLITICO's Ali Watkins: "The firing on Tuesday of FBI Director James Comey eliminated one of the Senate Intelligence Committee's most critical allies in investigating President Donald Trump's alleged ties to Russia, potentially knocking the probe into turmoil...The intelligence panel's investigation has been held up as perhaps the last hope for the public to understand the full scope of how the Russian government worked to undermine the 2016 election, including any potential Russian efforts to compromise members of Trump's campaign team." Full story.

- "Schumer calls for special prosecutor, suggests cover-up," by POLITICO's Austin Wright and Seung Min Kim: "Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer of New York and other Democrats ratcheted up calls for a special prosecutor to investigate the Trump campaign's ties to Russia after FBI director James Comey's firing on Tuesday - an abrupt dismissal that raised concerns even from a few Republicans on Capitol Hill." Full story.

CODA - QUOTE OF THE DAY: "You are hereby terminated and removed from office, effective immediately." - President Donald Trump, in a Tuesday letter to former FBI Director James Comey.

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