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01/09/2019 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
- The gravitational pull of the big Democratic presidential primary is attracting Democrats who would be top-tier Senate candidates in key states.

- Former Rep. Beto O'Rourke is leaning toward running for president.

- The North Carolina state board of elections said a hearing into election fraud allegations in NC-09 won't be held until after the new members of the board are sworn in on Jan. 31.

Good Wednesday morning. YOU MUST READ THIS NOW: The Washington Post's Michelle Ye Hee Lee and Anu Narayanswamy profiled Mothership Strategies, purveyors of the ALL CAPS subject lines. Email me your thoughts 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: 300

Days until the 2020 election: 664
THE TOPLINES
RUNNING FOR SOMETHING - Democrats could face a recruitment problem in the battle for the Senate in 2020. While the party thinks it could win back the upper chamber, many would-be top-tier candidates have their sights set on the White House instead, Campaign Pro's James Arkin reports.

From O'Rourke or the Castro brothers in Texas to former Gov. John Hickenlooper in Colorado to Gov. Steve Bullock in Montana, Democrats' dream Senate candidates are eying 1600 Penn instead.

"You've got to have the fire in your belly to do either one," Sen. Jon Tester (D-Mont.) told James. "And I think [Bullock's] fire in the belly is to run for president."

Some of the presidential dreaming could freeze the field to an extent. Gilberto Hinojosa, the chairman of the Texas Democratic Party, told James that Democrats are in a bit of a holding pattern until 2020 plans become more clear.

But Democrats offer a note of caution: It is still very early. Some top-flight candidates could ultimately run for the Senate - or other candidates could emerge.

- Another name to watch: Georgia Democrat Stacey Abrams said she'll make up her mind by the end of March on what she'll do next in politics, per the Atlanta Journal-Constitution's Greg Bluestein.
IN THE TRENCHES
BETO-MANIA - O'Rourke is leaning toward running for president - but early state operatives are grumbling about his radio silence so far, POLITICO's David Siders reports.

- O'Rourke isn't expected to make a decision on whether he'll run until February at the earliest, NBC News' Alex Seitz-Wald and Garrett Haake report.

PRESIDENTIAL BIG BOARD - Sen. Kamala Harris (D-Calif.) was coy about a potential presidential run on the first day of her media and book tour. "I'm pleased to announce on 'The View' that I'm not ready to make my announcement," she joked, per POLITICO's Caitlin Oprysko. But a sign Harris is getting closer to a presidential run: She's closing out her California state campaign committee and donating the remaining $1 million to a variety of organizations, POLITICO's Chris Cadelago reported.

- Some 2020 hopefuls, including Sens. Cory Booker (D-N.J.), Kirsten Gillibrand (D-N.Y.) and Harris, have been meeting with major donors on Wall Street, CNBC's Brian Schwartz reported.

- Billionaire Tom Steyer will make an announcement today regarding "his political plans for 2019 and beyond" in Iowa, per a blast from his press shop.

- Former HUD Secretary Julian Castro vowed to not take PAC money in a presidential bid, via NBC News' Ali Vitali.

NC-09, CONTINUED - The postponed evidentiary hearing from the North Carolina state board of elections isn't happening any time soon. The state board said that a new date for the hearing won't be set until after the new board members are sworn in "on or shortly after" Jan. 31.

- Republican Mark Harris says he spoke frequently with McCrae Dowless, the independent contractor who worked for his campaign and is at the center of the fraud allegations, but never discussed anything illegal. Harris also said in an interview with WSOC's Paul Boyd that Dowless denied the allegations to him.

- Dowless was investigated in 2010 for allegations that he was part of a group that bought votes, the AP's Michael Biesecker and Emery Dalesio reported.

UP NEXT - Republican Jake LaTurner, the Kansas state treasurer, announced he will run for the Senate in 2020. The Wichita Eagle's Jonathan Shorman noted that the bid by the 30-year-old is "a relatively low-risk venture" because LaTurner was just elected to a four-year term as treasurer in 2018.

- Republican Yvette Herrell, who narrowly lost to Democratic Rep. Xochitl Torres Small in NM-02, announced she is running again in 2020, per the Santa Fe New Mexican's Andrew Oxford.

SHUTDOWN SHUFFLE - Republican senators who could be vulnerable in 2020 are growing increasingly frustrated with the partial government shutdown. "Two of the most vulnerable Republicans on the ballot next year, Sens. Cory Gardner of Colorado and Susan Collins of Maine, have already broken with Trump and called for the government to reopen even without an agreement on the border wall," James writes, noting that others have expressed various levels of anger.

PRIMARY WATCH - Rep. Dan Lipinski (D-Ill.), who narrowly fended off a primary challenger in 2016, will probably again draw the ire of the progressive wing of the party. The March for Life, the major annual anti-abortion demonstration in Washington, D.C., announced that Lipinski would speak this year at the event on Jan. 18.

THE PARTY DECIDES -The RNC is moving away from changing its rules to prevent a challenger to President Donald Trump, the Washington Examiner's David M. Drucker reports. The party "is content that existing bylaws and the president's overwhelming grassroots support are sufficient to stiff-arm any GOP opponents that might emerge," Drucker writes. "Nevertheless, the party's governing body, the Republican National Committee, could issue a resolution reaffirming support for Trump's renomination when it convenes later this month for an annual winter business meeting."

THE CASH DASH - Louisiana Democratic Gov. John Bel Edwards' campaign said he has $8.4 million cash on hand for his reelection campaign and raised nearly $3.8 million last year, per the AP's Melinda Deslatte. Republican Eddie Rispone said he had $5.5 million in his account, which includes $5 million of his own money he kicked in and $554,000 he raised in 2018 since announcing his bid.

- Kentucky Attorney General Andy Beshear, a Democrat, raised over $470,000 in the fourth quarter of 2018 and has over $850,000 cash on hand for his gubernatorial campaign, per Campaign Pro's Daniel Strauss.

REDISTRICTING WATCH - Missouri state lawmakers are looking to ax a voter-approved plan to give much of the power to draw state legislative lines to a state demographer. "[T]he Republican supermajorities in the state House and Senate appear ready to offer up their own constitutional amendment to alter or undo Amendment 1 for a statewide vote either later this year or in 2020, much to the displeasure of the initiative's sponsors," St. Louis Public Radio's Jason Rosenbaum wrote.

- The Supreme Court rejected an effort by Virginia Republicans to delay the process to redraw state House maps. "The underlying finding of racial gerrymandering is on appeal to SCOTUS," the Brennan Center's Michael Li wrote on Twitter. "[B]ut, in the mean time, with today's ruling, the district court will go ahead and redraw the map."

- Mark your calendars: The Supreme Court announced the briefing schedule for the two big gerrymandering cases.

(STRAW) POLLS POLLS POLLS - Daily Kos, one of the largest online communities of liberal voters, released its first tracking poll of its members. It has Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) ahead with 22 percent, followed by O'Rourke at 15 percent, and former Vice President Joe Biden and Harris at 14 percent each.

GOODBYE - Virginia Republican Corey Stewart, who lost bids in consecutive years for governor and the Senate after tacking hard to the right and mirroring the president, said he is quitting politics, The Washington Post's Antonio Olivo reported.

CODA - STAT OF THE DAY: A majority of Democrats identify as liberals for the first time since Gallup has tracked it in 1994.

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