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01/24/2019 10:00 AM EDT

By ZACH MONTELLARO (zmontellaro@politico.com; @ZachMontellaro)


Editor's Note: This edition of Morning Score is published weekdays at 10 a.m. POLITICO Campaign Pro subscribers hold exclusive early access to the newsletter each morning at 6 a.m. To learn more about POLITICO Pro's comprehensive policy intelligence coverage, policy tools and services, click here.
QUICK FIX
- Freshman House Democrats are pushing individual pieces of ethics and campaign reform that track closely with their omnibus government reform bill, with an eye on 2020.

- Pete Buttigieg, the millennial mayor of South Bend, Indiana, became the latest Democratic presidential hopeful to throw his hat into the ring.

- National and local Democrats are pushing Stacey Abrams to run for the Senate in Georgia. It's just not clear she wants the job.

Good Thursday morning. There's a video of former Rep. Beto O'Rourke singing in a band in a sheep mask and a onesie, surfaced by Mother Jones. Alright. Email me at zmontellaro@politico.com or DM me at @ZachMontellaro.

Email the great Campaign Pro team at sbland@politico.com, dstrauss@politico.com, jarkin@politico.com, and lbarron-lopez@politico.com. Follow them on Twitter: @PoliticoScott, @DanielStrauss4, @JamesArkin and @lbarronlopez.

Days until the 2019 election: 285

Days until the 2020 election: 649

Get "Freezin' for a Reason" on Saturday, Feb. 2 with Special Olympics DC. POLITICO is proud to support the "Polar Plunge," an annual benefit to raise funds for more than 1,600 Special Olympics DC athletes. Proceeds provide sports, health and inclusion programs that benefit both children and adults with intellectual disabilities in the District. Visit www.dcpolarplunge.org to register as an individual, a team or to join an existing team.
THE TOPLINES
THE DEM REFORM MESSAGE - House Democrats' first big (non-shutdown) push was H.R. 1 (116), a sprawling piece of legislation that would make extensive changes to campaign finance, voting and ethics rules. It got red-carpet treatment from the caucus, but the bill cannot advance beyond the House right now - Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell has condemned it.

So freshman Democrats plan on taking several more bites at the apple, with an eye both on keeping their 2018 campaign promises and their looming reelection campaigns. "H.R. 1 is a bold opening salvo, but it ain't enough," Rep. Max Rose (D-N.Y.) said in an interview with Score. "We're just getting started."

They have begun to introduce legislation that mirrors or complements aspects of the larger package. Rose will today introduce his own Lobbyist Loophole Closure Act, which would make individuals who give "strategic advice" register as lobbyists. Meanwhile, fellow freshmen Rep. Joe Neguse (D-Colo.) introduced the Next Generation Votes Act, which would allow for voter preregistration for 16- and 17-year-olds, on Wednesday. Both bills are similar to provisions within H.R. 1.

"This is not just about anti-corruption. It is also about showing the American people that we were not just talking the talk during our campaigns," Rose said. "The American people are sick and tired of being bullshitted."

And expect to hear about the ethics reform push on the trail in 2020. "I wanna really sit down and talk to whoever opposes [my bill]," Rose said. "I want to understand what their campaign strategy is for 2020."
IN THE TRENCHES
PRESIDENTIAL BIG BOARD - Another one: Buttigieg has formed an exploratory committee for president. "Right now, our country needs a fresh start," Buttigieg said in his announcement video. Buttigieg has been leaning into the fact that he is a millennial. "I think when you run at this age, your face is your message in a lot of ways," he told CNN's Jeff Zeleny. "And part of what we are looking at is the idea that it's time for a new generation in American leadership." Some recommended Buttigieg reading: Adam Wren's December profile in Indianapolis Monthly, the Center for Responsive Politics' Raymond Arke's look at Buttigieg's PAC donations in the midterms and CNN's Kyle Blaine on why a married,
gay man running for president is a big deal.

- Before Sen. Kamala Harris was a top-tier presidential candidate, she was a young prosecutor trying to become San Francisco district attorney. David Siders took a deep dive into her first run for office in POLITICO Magazine.

- Some Democrats are hoppin' mad about a paid speech former Vice President Joe Biden gave in Michigan just weeks before the election. Biden praised Rep. Fred Upton (R-Mich.) as "one of the finest guys I've ever worked with" in a speech for which he was paid $200,000. "Mr. Biden's remarks, coming amid a wide-ranging discourse on American politics, quickly appeared in Republican advertising," The New York Times' Alex Burns reported. "The local Democratic Party pleaded with Mr. Biden to repair what it saw as a damaging error, to no avail."

STAFFING UP - A new feature from Campaign Pro's own Daniel Strauss: Every other week, he'll be rounding up all the staff hires on presidential campaigns, congressional races, outside groups and more. Here's the maiden voyage for Pro subscribers - make sure you email him at dstrauss@politico.com with the latest campaign hires.

THE SENATE MAP - Democrats are leaning on Abrams to run for Senate in Georgia in 2020. "The problem is that Abrams still has hopes of becoming governor - it's where she could have the most direct impact on issues like voting rights - and isn't sold on the Senate," Campaign Pro's James Arkin reported. "As she deliberates, Abrams also sat down with three of the most prominent African-Americans in the Democratic Party: Sen. Cory Booker (D-N.J.) ... Sen. Kamala Harris (D-Calif.) and Rep. John Lewis (D-Ga.)."

UP NEXT - Secretary of State Mike Pompeo poured a bit of cold water on any potential Kansas Senate run. "Lots of folks have reached out to me and suggested that I ought to do that. I have suggested to them that I have a very full plate as secretary of state and I intend to keep doing this so long as President Trump will commit to it," he told Fox News' Martha MacCallum.

- Rep. Bradley Byrne (R-Ala.) is getting closer to deciding on if he'll run for the Senate. "We're going to have an announcement in the next several weeks," he told POLITICO's Sarah Ferris. He also said he talked to former Vice President Dick Cheney about his looming decision "because I'm thinking about running for the Senate myself, and he told me how much he liked being in the House." Take that for what you will!

- Kentucky Democrats are gearing up for a competitive three-way primary to decide who will face Republican Gov. Matt Bevin, Campaign Pro's Daniel Strauss reported.

- Andru Volinsky, a Democratic member of New Hampshire's executive council, wrote in an email to activists that he is "fairly likely to run" for governor in 2020, WMUR's Adam Sexton reported.

- Former GOP Rep. Karen Handel, who narrowly lost to Democratic Rep. Lucy McBath in 2018 in GA-06, is seriously considering another run, her former campaign strategist told the Atlanta Journal-Constitution's Jim Galloway, Greg Bluestein and Tamar Hallerman.

THE ART OF DARK MONEY - For the first time since Citizens United, liberal dark money groups outspent Republican dark money groups, according to an analysis from Issue One's Michael Beckel. All dark money groups combined to spend $150 million during the midterms, with groups aligned with Democrats spending 54 percent of that. About 31 percent of the $150 million was from GOP-aligned dark money groups, and the remainder was from bipartisan or nonpartisan groups.

The top spender this cycle was Majority Forward, which is tied to Senate Democratic leadership. It spent $46 million. The U.S. Chamber of Commerce dropped about $12 million backing Republicans and criticizing Democrats, and the National Association of Realtors spent around $11 million on a bipartisan mix of candidates. Americans for Prosperity, part of the Koch network, spent $8.9 million.

OUT - Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee (D-Texas) resigned as chairwoman of the Congressional Black Caucus Foundation and stepped aside from a subcommittee chair after a lawsuit alleged she fired an aide who said was raped by a CBCF employee, The New York Times' Nicholas Fandos reported. Jackson Lee said she did not retaliate against the aide.

BOOK YOUR TICKETS? - Organizers trying to bring the 2020 Democratic convention to Milwaukee have secured a line of credit, the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel's Mary Spicuzza reported.

SPECIAL ELECTION WATCH - You can pencil in a tentative date for the special election to fill former Rep. Tom Marino's seat in PA-12. Local county commissioners have requested that Gov. Tom Wolf schedule the special election to replace Marino be held on May 21, the same day as the state's 2019 primaries, via The Express' Chris Morelli. Wolf has 10 days from Wednesday to set the date for the special election.

CODA - HEADLINE OF THE DAY: "John McAfee Takes to the Seas, Fleeing a Feared Indictment; Intends to Pursue his Libertarian Presidential Race Via Masked Surrogates," via Reason.

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