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By Daniel Strauss | 05/24/2018 10:00 AM EDT


With Zach Montellaro and Maggie Severns

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)

THINKING AHEAD - "Filings show Biden, Bullock and Castro quietly building up PACs" by Campaign Pro's Maggie Severns: "While their office-holding rivals raise and spend big money on reelection bids, several potential 2020 contenders are quietly courting donors and building out their political operations inside federal PACs. Former Vice President Joe Biden, former Secretary of Housing and Urban Development Julián Castro and Montana Gov. Steve Bullock each launched PACs for the 2018 cycle. As they weigh bids for office in the future, these fledgling political groups have helped the politicians court political donors, travel the country and begin building email lists to communicate with
supporters. ... Bullock's Big Sky Values PAC has raised $620,000 and spent $454,000 since it was formed during the summer of 2017. The PAC paid for airfare and lodging in Los Angeles and Iowa, among other expenses. Bullock's donors included Florida lawyer John Morgan, California technology investor Chris Sacca and East Coast financial investor Anthony Minella." Full story.

MISCONDUCT ALLEGATIONS IN IOWA - "Three women accuse Iowa governor candidate Nate Boulton of sexual misconduct" by The Des Moines Register's Brianne Pfannenstiel: "Three women have accused Iowa Democratic gubernatorial candidate and state Sen. Nate Boulton of inappropriate sexual conduct. One woman told the Des Moines Register that Boulton, now 38, repeatedly grabbed her buttocks at a bar in 2015. Two others told the Register that when Boulton was in law school more than a decade ago, he rubbed his clothed crotch against them, pressing his erect penis into their thighs.

"Boulton, who announced in May 2017 he would seek the Democratic nomination for governor, did not deny the allegations. 'I don't have the same recollection,' he told the Register. 'But I am not going to offer any additional context to this, other than to say if someone's perspective is that it was inappropriate and I crossed a line and I misread a situation in a social setting, I do apologize.' He declined to comment on or discuss the specific incidents, saying, 'I think if I add context it quickly becomes victim-blaming, and I don't want to go down that path.'" Full story.

IN ARIZONA - "Arpaio: Ward's campaign suggested I quit Senate race for pro-Trump gig," by The Arizona Republic's Yvonne Wingett Sanchez: "U.S. Senate candidate Kelli Ward's campaign manager twice asked her Republican primary rival Joe Arpaio to get out of the race, saying he could set up a paid speaking gig for the former sheriff with a group that supports President Donald Trump's agenda, Arpaio and his campaign said Tuesday. A spokesman for Ward's campaign denied the assertion, telling The Arizona Republic 'no such offer was made.' ...

"Shawn Dow, Ward's campaign manager, met with Arpaio on May 16 at his campaign office in Fountain Hills, according to the account from Arpaio's campaign. ... In exchange for dropping out, Arpaio's campaign said Dow suggested he could secure a paid job for Arpaio to deliver speeches for the Great America PAC, a pro-Trump political-action committee." Full story.

Days until the 2018 election: 166

Upcoming election dates - June 5: Alabama, California, Iowa, Mississippi, Montana, New Jersey, New Mexico and South Dakota primaries - June 12: Maine, Nevada, North Dakota, South Carolina and Virginia primaries.

Upcoming filing deadlines - Arizona: May 30 - Vermont: May 31 - Alaska, Kansas, Wisconsin and Wyoming: June 1 - Hawaii and Minnesota: June 5 - Connecticut: June 12.

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

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

POLITICO and the South China Morning Post are partnering to expand coverage of U.S.-China relations. Read our note from POLITICO Editor-in-Chief John Harris and Editor Carrie Budoff Brown to learn more.

CAMPAIGN TECH - "Democratic analytics firm launches new ad-testing service," by Campaign Pro's Scott Bland: "Civis Analytics, a Democratic firm that grew out of former President Barack Obama's reelection campaign, is launching new ad-testing software that lets campaigns up and down the ballot inject a little science into a famously subjective process. The application, called 'Creative Focus,' uses controlled experiments to test the efficacy of ads in online surveys. Users upload their ads and choose the audience they want to test against, from national down to the congressional district level. Civis then runs an online survey of that audience - randomly showing some respondents the ad test
while a control group does not see the ad, and then delivering back results that show how the ad affected the treatment group. ...

"'We've been doing large-scale ad testing ... about one-third of the ads we tested don't work - we mean they actively cause backlash and make people more likely to vote for Republicans,' said [David] Shor. 'We noticed that the more people in the office liked the ad, the worse it tested. ... How much people said they liked an ad was basically uncorrelated to how effective it ended up being.'" Full story.

NEWLY REGISTERED - NRSC forms massive joint fundraising committee: The National Republican Senatorial Committee registered a new joint fundraising committee last night along with 19 battleground state parties. Donors will be able to cut six-figure checks to the NRSC Targeted State Victory Fund benefitting key Senate races, similar to in other recent cycles. See the registration here.

WEST COAST UPDATE - GOP group spends to boost two Republicans in CA-49: American Future Fund Political Action is spending nearly a half-million dollars boosting both Diane Harkey and Rocky Chavez in CA-49, according to a new FEC filing. The two Republicans are in contention for both slots in the all-party, top-two primary. The district has been one of Democrats' top targets since Rep. Darrell Issa barely won reelection in 2016, but Issa's retirement opened up the field and left Democrats vulnerable to potential lockout from the general election.

- The DCCC also filed a new FEC form detailing hundreds of thousands of dollars in spending against Republicans in CA-39, CA-48 and CA-49, as well as an ad buy backing Democrat Gil Cisneros in CA-39.

WILD WEST VIRGINIA - "Manchin campaign poll shows him leading Morrisey by 8," by Campaign Pro's Daniel Strauss: "The poll by Global Strategy Group, which is serving as Manchin's pollster in his reelection fight, finds the Democrat with 50 percent support to the Republican's 42 percent support. In an accompanying polling memo, GSG pollsters Jefrey Pollock and James Delorey say that Manchin is favored by most Democrats and about a third of Republicans." Full story.

ABRAMS THE NOMINEE - "Q&A: Stacey Abrams Says She's 'Ready to Get to Work'" by The New York Times' Astead Herndon: "Stacey Abrams is flying high. The former Georgia state legislator secured the Democratic Party's nomination for governor Tuesday evening, making her the first black woman in the United States to secure a major party's nomination for governor. Ms. Abrams's triumph has been hailed as a potentially transformative moment for a party that is still searching for its soul in the era of President Trump, but she still has a difficult road to securing a general election victory in a deeply conservative state. Georgia hasn't had a Democratic governor since 2003. ...

"Abrams: Progressive means that we want to make certain that we continue to advance opportunities, that every Georgian has the freedom and opportunity to thrive. And to me, that means working hard within our party to get good things done. But it also means being able to work across the aisle to ensure that the best results happen for everyone. I do not think that it means anything less than wanting progress for our people. And that's what I'm working towards." Full story.

INTERNAL POLL - Ivey campaign internal poll shows 40 percent lead: An internal poll conducted by The Tarrance Group on behalf of Alabama Gov. Kay Ivey's campaign finds her leading the rest of the Republican primary field by 40 points. The poll found Ivey with 58 percent support, followed by Huntsville Mayor Tommy Battle with 18 percent, Republican Scott Dawson at 7 percent and Alabama state Sen. Bill Hightower at 5 percent. Another 12 percent said they were undecided. Read the polling memo here.

IN THE CLUB - "New sheriff in Texas: The Club for Growth," by The Fort Worth Star-Telegram's Andrea Drusch: "The Club for Growth, once the hero of long-shot Republicans challenging better-funded opponents, is now the political heavyweight in Texas's GOP races. Of the Club's endorsed Texas House candidates vying in runoffs Tuesday, Michael Cloud in the 27th district, Ron Wright in the 6th district and Chip Roy in the 21st district were declared winners. Bunni Pounds lost to Lance Gooden in the 5th district early Wednesday morning. A fifth Club candidate, Van Taylor, won the GOP nomination in the 3rd district in the March primary. ... Tuesday's results also mark another significant step in
the state's evolving GOP power grid - from campaigns dominated by powerful business interests to ideological hardliners funded by a wealthy few." Full story.

AD WATCH - Former Obama administration official Phil Weiser, who is running for Colorado attorney general, talks about being inspired by Trump's victory to run for office in a lighthearted new Mark Putnam-produced ad that will be backed by a $500,000 statewide buy. Watch the ad here.

CORRECTION: The May 23 edition of Morning Score misidentified the primary in Georgia's 6th District. It was the Democratic primary.

CODA - QUOTE OF THE DAY: "Having completed these processes, Mr. Kushner is looking forward to continuing the work the president has asked him to do." - Attorney Abbe Lowell to The Los Angeles Times on Jared Kushner being granted a security clearance.

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