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By Elena Schneider and Scott Bland | 04/21/2017 10:00 AM EDT


With Bianca Padró Ocasio and Kevin Robillard

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)

SPECIAL ELECTION UPDATE - NEW THIS MORNING IN MONTANA - CLF launches new TV ad: The Congressional Leadership Fund released a new TV ad attacking Democrat Rob Quist, backed by a $800,000 buy. "Rob Quist talks folksy, but his record is more Nancy Pelosi than Montana," the ad's narrator says. "Quist supports devastating military budget cuts, but would spend your tax dollars on a government health plan even more expensive than Obamacare." The ad continues: "Quist has a long pattern of failing to pay his bills. He's even faced multiple warrants for not paying his taxes. Can you trust Quist and Pelosi - with your money?" The ad will start airing today on broadcast and cable stations in Billings,
Bozeman, Great Falls and Missoula. Watch the ad here.

- Dueling Second Amendment candidate ads in Montana: Voters in Montana may want to hide their electronics, after watching two TV ads from Democrat Rob Quist and Republican Greg Gianforte. The ads feature Quist and Gianforte shooting a TV set and a desktop computer, respectively. They both also claim the other is misrepresenting their views on the Second Amendment. Watch Quist's ad here. Watch Gianforte's ad here.

- DCCC sends money to Montana party as NRCC hits Quist on TV: "Both party committees are ramping up their investments in Montana's special election, as Georgia's special election moved into a runoff this week. A DCCC aide confirmed that the committee is making a six-figure transfer to the Montana Democratic Party to help Democrat Rob Quist, a folk singer who's squaring off against Republican Greg Gianforte. That comes as the NRCC started its own TV buy earlier this week, with an initial $148,000 ad effort on broadcast." Full story.

FIRST IN SCORE - End Citizens United endorses Rob Quist: End Citizens United will back Quist, who's hoping to replace Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke in Montana's special election race against Republican Greg Gianforte. End Citizens United raised more than $825,000 for Democrat Jon Ossoff during the Georgia's special election primary, with an average contribution of $14.

- Quist broke $2 million in contributions: "Quist's campaign announced that the folk singer passed the $2 million fundraising mark for the Montana special election. Quist's camp touted $1.3 million raised on April 11, meaning that he brought in approximately $700,000 in the last nine days." Full story.

- And in GA-06: President Donald Trump sent a fundraising email for Republican Karen Handel as she ramps up her runoff campaign, via the Washington Post's Aaron Blake.

2018 WATCH - "McCaskill's meddling past looms over GOP preparations for 2018," by Campaign Pro's Kevin Robillard: "Sen. Claire McCaskill is still in Republicans' heads, and it is affecting some GOP operatives' thinking as they make plans to try to defeat her in 2018. McCaskill is something of a white whale for GOP operatives, generating a mix of anxiety and frustration after they failed to beat her in 2012 when McCaskill famously meddled in the Republican primary and helped engineer the nomination of Todd Akin ... Both Democrats and Republicans have long seen Rep. Ann Wagner, a former RNC co-chair and prolific fundraiser, as McCaskill's obvious opponent. But new fears about certain
vulnerabilities Wagner could have in a GOP primary have helped fuel a new push to draw Attorney General Josh Hawley into the Senate race. ... While Republicans uniformly believe either Hawley or Wagner could defeat McCaskill, one national Republican strategist admitted he has 'war flashbacks' to 2012 and fears McCaskill could air ads highlighting Wagner pulling her endorsement of Donald Trump last year or shining a spotlight on her husband's lobbying work. Full story.

Days until the 2017 election: 201.

Days until the 2018 election: 565.

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: @ec_schneider, @politicokevin and @danielstrauss4.

MORE 2018 MANEUVERING - Rokita suggests Messer shouldn't run for Senate: In an interview with Howey Politics, GOP Rep. Todd Rokita suggested GOP Rep. Luke Messer shouldn't run for Senate in Indiana against Democratic Sen. Joe Donnelly, for an unusual reason: Rokita essentially said Messer shouldn't give up his slot in the House because Messer has a brighter future there than Rokita does.

- "Hopefully Luke doesn't run because that's exactly right," Rokita told the in-state political newsletter. "He has a terrific pathway to help the state of Indiana. He could be majority leader, he could be speaker. That's not a path I'm on." And then he went on the praise Donnelly: "He works the state real hard. I see him on the airplane with me every weekend. That's why we need a candidate who comes back to the state, lives in the state, raises his family in the state. It keeps me connected, just like Joe Donnelly, who is fairly connected to voters in this state."

- "Feinstein is waiting for family health issues to be resolved before announcing her 2018 plans," by the Los Angeles Times' Sarah D. Wire: "Sen. Dianne Feinstein said Thursday she is waiting for some family health issues to be resolved before she announces whether she'll run for another term in 2018."The time is coming, be assured. I've had reasons for waiting, and so once those problems are solved, I'll let you know," Feinstein said after a town hall in Los Angeles.Feinstein wouldn't give more details about the family issue, but she skipped the Democratic National Convention in Philadelphia last summer after her husband, Richard Blum, was diagnosed with lung cancer.She herself was fitted
with a pacemaker in January." Full story.

'UNITY TOUR' - "DNC rally with anti-abortion candidate fuels backlash," by POLITICo's Elana Schor: "Democrat Heath Mello, a Bernie Sanders-backed candidate for mayor of Omaha, is scheduled to appear with Sanders and Rep. Keith Ellison (D-Minn.), the DNC's new deputy chair, at a sold-out rally on Thursday. But Mello's sponsorship of a 2009 state Senate bill to require women be informed of their right to request a fetal ultrasound before obtaining an abortion prompted a leading abortion-rights group to slam the DNC for elevating him." Full story.

SPECIAL ELECTION? - Chaffetz: "'Absolutely' no scandal," plans to serve "for at least several more months," via POLITICO's Jake Sherman: "Utah Rep. Jason Chaffetz - who shocked the political establishment when he announced his retirement earlier this week - said that he has already started looking for post-congressional employment, and hopes to serve on boards of directors and link up with a television network. ... He first announced in a Facebook post that he wouldn't run for any office in 2018, and now, he is saying that he might leave Congress in the next couple of months. 'I might depart early,' he said in the interview. 'It's not tomorrow, it's not next week. If it is, it's going to be
in the months to come.'" Full story.

WHERE ARE THEY NOW - "Is Dennis Kucinich running for governor?: He's coming to Dayton Monday," by the Dayton Daily News' Will Garbe: "Former Congressman Dennis Kucinich will hold a town hall meeting Monday in Dayton, raising questions about whether the former Cleveland mayor and presidential candidate could run for Ohio governor. Kucinich will hold a Columbus press conference earlier in the day before coming to Dayton to discuss 'the impact of privatization on Ohio's public schools,' according to a news release." Full story.

- FLASHBACK - "Kucinich weighs run for Congress in Washington state," via the Seattle Times in May 2011. (He didn't do it, instead losing a member-versus-member primary after redistricting combined two Democratic House seats in Ohio.)

CODA - QUOTE OF THE DAY: "I've been given more enemas by more people over the last eight years than you can possibly imagine. From the Secret Service to the Democratic Party. I am who I am. If they had something really scandalous, it would've come out a long, long time ago." - Rep. Jason Chaffetz (R-Utah), colorfully denying that a scandal is forcing him from office, via POLITICO.

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